CEO talks future of sustainable aviation at one of the world’s busiest airports

As many of our listeners embark on summer vacations and the US heads into a busy travel weekend for the Fourth of July holiday, we’re talking with the chief executive of one of the world’s busiest airports. 

Paul Griffiths is CEO of Dubai Airports, which owns and manages the operation and development of Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International (DWC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, Paul shares the path that led him from training as a musician to working with Sir Richard Branson to leading an airport that served more than 92 million travelers in 2024. 

Paul explains the initiatives Dubai Airports has undertaken to become more sustainable and to decarbonize. He talks about how to balance rising demand for travel while also ensuring the sustainability of airport operations. 

“There is a growing realization that the industry has to clean its act up as far as carbon emissions are concerned,” Paul says. 

This episode is the latest in our Terra Carta Series of the All Things Sustainable podcast, a collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI). Throughout 2025, we’ll be interviewing SMI member CEOs like Paul from around the world and across industries about how they’re approaching sustainability challenges and opportunities. 

About the SMI and Terra Carta Podcast Series: The SMI is a network of over 250 global CEOs across finance and industry. It facilitates private sector diplomacy with the ambition of making sustainability the driving force of global markets and value creation. S&P Global is a proud SMI member.  

We’re calling this the Terra Carta Series based on the SMI’s Terra Carta mandate. This is the guiding mandate for the SMI and sets out ambitious and practical actions to help the private sector accelerate progress toward a sustainable future. The name Terra Carta is a play on the historic Magna Carta.   

Listen to previous episodes in the Terra Carta Series:  

How the Sustainable Markets Initiative convenes the public and private sectors to drive solutions: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/how-the-sustainable-markets-initiative-convenes-the-public-and-private-sectors-to-drive-solutions?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=Patch+CEO&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast  

How climate tech company Patch works to build integrity of carbon markets: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/how-climate-tech-company-patch-works-to-build-integrity-of-carbon-markets 

How tech solutions, AI can drive the business case for sustainability: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/how-tech-solutions-ai-can-drive-the-business-case-for-sustainability 

Learn about energy transition data and services from S&P Global Commodity Insights: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/energy-transition?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=methane&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast     

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.    

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