Sustainability

Iceland, as an island nation, is dependent on efficient flight connections for international relations and to maintain a good quality of life. For continued prosperity, connecting people, places and creating new experiences is important, and we are committed to working towards the sustainable development of aviation. The correct long-term approach can drive innovation, and transformational change.

Sustainability is at the center of our strategy, and it plays an important role in our day-to-day decisions and operations. One of the three guiding principles of our strategy is: Embracing our people and the planet – which underlines that all decisions should be made with consideration to the responsibilities we have towards our people, the wider community, and the environment.

Icelandair supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we have chosen the following four goals as a strategic focus: Decent work and economic growth (#8), Climate action (#13), Responsible consumption and production (#12) and Gender equality (#5). These four SDGs have in recent years represented the Company’s key sustainability focus areas. This year they will be aligned with our work in preparing for the new upcoming EU reporting legislation, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

As the CSRD will require companies to report on their activities that have environmental and social impacts, we started preparatory work in 2023 for these upcoming regulatory changes. The CSRD introduces binding reporting standards, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and directions on alignment with the EU Taxonomy Regulation. The EU Taxonomy Regulation entered into force in Iceland in June 2023 and the adaptation of the CSRD into Icelandic law is expected to be submitted to the Parliament in 2024.