Venice in Italy will centre take stage for the 11th GreenPort Congress which will highlight new innovations in green equipment and technology, while giving practical solutions to tackle new environmental policy.
Keynote addresses will be given by Gian Luca Galletti, Italian Minister for the Environment Land and Sea, Brian Simpson, European Coordinator for the Motorways of the Sea, European Commission, Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General, European Sea Port Organization (ESPO), Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj-Belkaid, secretary general, FEPORT and Enrico Pujia, General Director for Ports, Maritime Transport and Inland navigation, Italian Ministry of Transport.
Climate change
Following the COP21 meeting held in Paris last year, tackling global climate change has never been more important to ports across the world. In a session moderated by Olaf Merck, OECD, participants at this year’s congress will be given an introduction to the outcome of the Paris Agreement together with practical presentations on combating climate change.
These will include a presentation by Jan Brooke, environmental consultant and UK representative on PIANC’s Permanent Task Group on Climate Change, called an ‘Introduction to the outcome of the Paris Agreement, December 2015.’
Other topics on the agenda will include ‘The unseen impact of construction in port development. Findings ways of mitigating GHG emissions and planning for climate change adaptation’ by Charles Haine, director, Responsible Finance and lead advisor sustainability, climate change & HIA, Royal HaskoningDHV.
Dr Stefano Biondi and Francesca Sambo, engineers at StormWater Italia and Marta Citron and Nicola Torricelli, engineers at the Venice Port Authority will talk about the chronic and acute effects caused by runoff of stormwater contaminated by sediments.
There will also be various case studies presented by ports – for example Petra Konig, environmental manager and Ellen Corke, Copenhagen Malmo Port, will talk about industrial symbiosis at their port. Victor Schoenmakers, director corporate strategy, at the Port of Rotterdam, will talk about mitigation, adaptation and decarbonisation at his port.
PRF directive
The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) will use day two of the congress to present its position paper on the revision of the port reception facilities (PRF) and answer questions from delegates.
This directive was originally unveiled at a meeting under the umbrella of the European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF) on 25 May.
“The European port authorities support the objectives of the PRF directive and welcome the revision process as an opportunity for further improvement of some of its provisions and their application, but it should not lead to a major review,” said Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO secretary general.
ESPO said that the spirit and objectives of the directive are still valid but better definitions, clarifications and guidance are needed.
It argues that the discussions over the adequacy of existing PRF needs to be concrete and evidence based, and that properly consulted and clearly communicated waste reception and handling plans are key.
“ESPO is keen to continue contributing towards this direction both through the work of the dedicated ESSF subgroup, the EC Impact Assessment and through the legislative process to follow,” added Antonis Michail, senior advisor at ESPO and vice-chair of the ESSF working group on the PRF.
The position paper states that imposing one single fee system over Europe is not an option but it supports the clarification of principles guiding the implementation of the fee system.
Other highlights of day two of the congress will include a talk on ‘Blue Energy: Wave energy implementation in ports’ by Inna Braverman, co-founder of energy group, Eco Wave Power.
There will also be a focus on solving the slops challenge within ports with Vincent Favier, CEO of Ecoslops.
GreenPort Cruise
The fourth GreenPort Cruise conference will be held on 11 October 2016, the day before the GreenPort Congress begins.
The Keynote address will be by Kyriakos Anastassiadis, CEO, Celestyal Cruises and executive committee member, CLIA.
One of the main talks will be by Carnival Cruises regarding opting for LNG as a solution to ECA compliance. The talk will be presented by Tom Strang, senior vice president maritime affairs, Carnival Corporation.
With cruise ships continuing to increase in size, it has never been more important for ports to be able to deal with the waste generated by them. A talk by Magda Wilewska- Bien, PhD student, Department of shipping and marine technology
At Chalmers University of Technology on ship-generated organic waste – challenges and potential, will deal with the issue.
Another highlight will be a talk by Manfred Lebmeier, head of environmental and spatial strategy, Hamburg Port Authority on the port’s Green Cruise Project, which will encompass sustainable energy, innovative terminal facilities and cruise terminal traffic links.
Other presentations at the conference will include green infrastructure and policies by Dietmar Oeliger, head of transport unit at The Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).
Knut Marquart, head of shore to ship power, Siemens and Thomas Kopel, energy management systems, Siemens will talk about cutting ship emissions in ports.
More information
GreenPort Congress takes place from 11 to 14 October 2016, with a gala dinner taking place on the first night and a port tour taking place on the final day. GreenPort Cruise takes place on 11 October.
The full programme for both events has now been released. Preferential rates are available for participants attending both the GreenPort Cruise and GreenPort Congress.
For more information contact the Events team on +44 1329 825335 or email congress@greenport.com. Follow event news on Twitter @GPCongress.
In the autumn issue…
In the autumn issue of GreenPort magazine we will take a look at this year’s congress host, the Port of Venice.
GreenPort Congress 2016 sponsors
Gold – Rightship
Silver – Stormwater Italia
Delegate bags – ABB
Lanyards – Schneider Electric
Other sponsors:
Siemens
Bruel & Kjaer.