SWISS’s environmental management system for the 2023 reporting year has secured the company its first-ever validation under Europe’s EMAS provisions. As a result, SWISS has also earned the international ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems. In the context of the same, SWISS will now be publishing an annual environmental report to help further underline its commitment to sustainable and responsible business management.
The environmental management system of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has, for the first time, been validated under the strict criteria of Europe’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), and has thereby also been certified under the ISO 14001 international norm. The system is based on the continuous improvement principle, and puts a particular focus on the prime environmental impacts of the company and its business and operations. The successful audit of SWISS’s systematic environmental data collection activities, its monitoring of its environmental actions and its companywide management of its environmental objectives applies to the company’s Zurich and Geneva operating sites for the 2023 reporting year. The audit was conducted by state-accredited environmental verifiers in the second quarter of 2024.
EMAS is a voluntary-membership scheme that has been established by the European Union to help companies continuously improve their environmental performance. EMAS validation requires the participant to meet all the standards of the ISO 14001 international environmental management norm, and to additionally satisfy further demands in transparency and continuous improvement terms. EMAS is regarded as the world’s most demanding environmental management system.
“We are very proud that our comprehensive environmental endeavours meet the highest standards, and that we are one of the first Swiss companies to earn the EMAS quality seal,” says SWISS Chief Executive Officer Dieter Vranckx. “As Switzerland’s national airline, we regard it as our duty – towards our customers, our employees, our service partners and our home country – to live up in full to all our responsibilities and to further pursue and extend our pioneering role in the sustainability field.”
In the corresponding EMAS audit, SWISS was particularly evaluated by the external environmental verifiers in terms of the extent to which sustainability is anchored within the corporate organization, the overarching collaborations in the field across all staff levels both on the ground and in the air, and its overall integration within the company’s management.
An annual environmental report
As part of its broader commitment on the sustainability front and in the context of its EMAS validation, SWISS will now be publishing an annual report on its environmental performance. In taking this step, SWISS is further underlining its commitment to sustainable and responsible business management. In addition to detailed information on the company’s environmental management system, the SWISS 2023 Environmental Report* presents extensive key corporate, transport and environmental facts and figures. The report is available for study or download at swiss.com.
*Currently only available in German. The English and French versions will follow shortly.
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