VINCI Airports and the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture launch the first local agricultural project with a "field crops" low-carbon label
Aéroports de Lyon and the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture have initiated a partnership signed in 2022, to develop local greenhouse gas reduction and sequestration projects eligible for the Low Carbon Label, using the "Field Crops" method. The aim is to bring about a change in cropping practices on this type of farm (cereals, oilseeds or leguminous crops) in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and beyond that, to encourage carbon sequestration in agricultural soils.
This first project is part of VINCI Airports' overall strategy of decarbonising its activities. All its airports are committed to reducing their CO2 emissions as much as possible and offsetting their residual emissions through carbon sequestration projects in their areas.
Other VINCI entities in the Centre-Est region have joined this partnership to strengthen the development of low-carbon agricultural projects in the region and thus contribute to meeting their environmental challenges: VINCI Construction, Freyssinet France and VINCI Energies' Building Solutions and nuclear activities.
This ambitious programme is being developed with 13 cereal farms in the Ozon valley, members of the GEDA (Groupement d'Etude et de Développement Agricole), located near Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport and covering a vast cultivated area of around 1,900 hectares. The aim is to encourage more sustainable agriculture that emits less CO2, by implementing measures to reduce residual CO2 emissions in the soil, including :
- la biomasse : couverture des champs par des végétaux entre les rotations de cultures, permettant la captation du CO2 dans les plantes et de manière pérenne dans les sols ;
- les engrais : réduction de l’apport en engrais azotés (générant du protoxyde d’azote qui est un gaz à effet de serre) et /ou utilisation d’engrais organiques ;
- les combustibles fossiles : réduction des émissions liées au carburant des engins agricoles par des semis directs sans labour.
Financial assistance from the project partners will be paid to the farmers. Scheduled over 5 years, with a view to sustainability, this low-carbon project will reduce the carbon footprint of the farms and offset 4,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (teqCO2) for the project partners.
"This innovative project, led by Aéroports de Lyon with the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture and local farmers, is in addition to the reforestation programme in the Beaujolais region undertaken by the airport with the Rhône Department and the ONF to sequester the residual CO2 emissions of Aéroports de Lyon from 2026. In addition, the participation in this partnership of other VINCI entities in the Centre-Est region demonstrates the Group's ability to work in synergy to achieve its environmental objectives". Tanguy Bertolus, Chairman of Aéroports de Lyon
"This project shows that all the stakeholders in the region can work together to reconcile agricultural, environmental and economic issues. All too often they are opposed, when in fact they are complementary. Farms are key players in the transition to tomorrow's world, and nothing can be done without them. This project is a good example of how partnerships can be built between businesses that are very different from each other, for the benefit of society as a whole. Pascal GIRIN , Chairman of the Rhône Chamber of Agriculture
