The premise of the programme is simple \u2013 to help ports develop a single long term strategy to manage energy and natural resources and reduce carbon footprint. The eventual aim is to become carbon neutral by a mixture of offsetting and forestry investment.<\/p>\n
There are growing calls for ports to exercise corporate social responsibility (CSR) as financial institutions consider this as an essential element of assessing investment.<\/p>\n
But the problem has been that green strategy for ports is not standardised up until now.<\/p>\n
Helena Athoussaki, CEO of Carbon Positive said to GreenPort<\/i>: “Whilst many ports are looking to boost their CSR initiatives, formalising the CSR process is the next logical step \u2013 with a standardised and independently verified programme for carbon management, ports can take a holistic approach to emissions that will lead to better benchmarking and raise best practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that in the short-term, there are positive reputational benefits of taking a proactive approach to CSR and being seen to be involved in the programme by key stakeholders, including financiers and there are cost savings to be gained through energy efficiencies.<\/p>\n
In the longer-term, she said this could lead to further cost savings, \u201ccontributing to reducing the shipping industry’s emissions as a whole and benefiting relationships throughout the port logistics and supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n