Many ports are making the most of their sustainable virtues these days, but how can their sustainability be measured and compared? The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) champions Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification through EcoPorts but, as ESPO secretary general Isabelle Ryckbost points out, this is based on a straight \u2018pass\u2019 of the criteria which demonstrate the port is considering the environment, with no grades involved.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
To try to rank ports in some sort of sustainability index would be like comparing apples and pears, she says. \u201cSome ports have integrated systems; others are landlord ports. Some have heavy industry within the port, some don\u2019t. For industry within the port area, you could say that they are already subject to sectoral legislation of their own, so you shouldn\u2019t measure them twice.<\/p>\n
“You would have to establish what is under the direct management of the port authority \u2013 it is just the building and staff and people driving cars to and from the port, or is it also operations?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ports could possibly be ranked on one pollutant or issue \u2013 noise or dust or carbon footprint, for example, but even that would be difficult, she says. \u201cYou would have to define the extent of operations and what is direct or indirect. Do you include hinterland traffic and industries, where ports might have influence but are not fully in the driving seat? The picture will be different in many ports.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ESPO\u2019s experience, says Ms Ryckbost, is that port performance is being measured \u2018very seriously\u2019 at the individual port level with ISO 14001 and EMAS (the EU\u2019s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) well established, along with PERS.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Better figures <\/strong><\/p>\n When comparing 2013 and 2017 statistics, sustainability has definitely improved. In 2013, 54% of the ports interviewed had Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in place. In 2017, the figure is 70%.<\/p>\n The European Port Industry Sustainability Report 2017 gives an update of the \u2018top ten\u2019 environmental priorities of the port sector; the top four are air quality, energy consumption, noise, water quality, and these are followed by dredging operations, garbage\/port waste, port development (land-related), relationship with local community, ship waste and climate change.<\/p>\n Twenty-five ports in Europe and neighbouring countries are already in the EcoPorts Network certified by PERS, the only port sector specific environmental management standard.<\/p>\n The PERS criteria are used by the World Bank when assessing projects, says Ms Ryckbost. But in any case, with more than 90% of European ports being in urban areas, they know they have to be serious on issues such as noise, dust and pollution, to keep the acceptance of the surrounding community for further developing the port.<\/p>\n \u201cThe environmental challenge is the most important challenge for ports, especially those close to cities. The problem we face is that ports can\u2019t move \u2013 and they are easy targets. We often hear politicians saying \u2018ports should do something\u2019. But ports can\u2019t do everything \u2013 they don\u2019t have it all in their hands. They can stimulate, encourage, etc., but they can\u2019t obligate their tenants and users.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘Quality label’<\/strong><\/p>\n Patrick Verhoeven, managing director \u2013 policy and strategy at the International Association of Ports and Harbors, describes the EcoPorts (PERS) network as a \u2018quality label\u2019 for environmental port management.<\/p>\n At an international level, IAPH has been running the Environmental Ship Index (EDI) project for several years, which gives points to ships that perform better on air emissions than what is required under international law. On that basis, port authorities can decide to give them incentives, such as a reduction in port dues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are, however, not in favour of making incentive schemes mandatory,” says Mr Verhoeven. “They should remain voluntary initiatives, both for shipping companies and for port authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n If a major new sustainability ranking was to be developed, an important consideration is which body or authority would create, implement and monitor the ranking, which would be no small task, says Kathryn Beaven, DP World\u2019s director of Global Sustainability.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything that helps the shipping and ports industry to become more sustainable is to be welcomed,\u201d she says. \u201cYet with companies such as DP World increasingly working to meet a broad range of sustainability issues and requirements \u2013 which often stretch outside of our own sector \u2013 it\u2019s important to note that having a specific sustainability ranking for ports would only address a particular aspect of the wide range of work that responsible companies have under way.\u201d<\/p>\n Broad range<\/strong><\/p>\n DP World\u2019s commitment to sustainability covers a range of areas beyond minimising impacts on the environment, to include investing in its people, safety, and building a vibrant, secure and resilient society, she says.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough our work, we\u2019re also meeting broader aims, such as the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals, the set of 17 aspirational aims to help build a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n DP World is “committed to being a world leader in sustainability” and has a strong focus on measurement and evaluation of its sustainability efforts across its 78 marine and inland operations, adds Ms Beaven.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, we rank our ports internally, in terms of total emission and total energy used. Last year, DP World\u2019s overall score increased in the comprehensive benchmark for corporate sustainability published by Bloomberg and RobecoSAM. Our ranking went up across the specific environmental and social dimensions. The scores, measured out of 100, assess criteria such as climate strategy, environmental policy, human capital, health and safety and social reporting. Our annual report includes a specific section on sustainability, which helps us to track and evaluate our progress, such as achieving almost 40m litres of reduced water consumption.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe working in a sustainable and responsible way is essential to us building a strong business for our customers, our people and our society. We will continue to invest in innovation and measure and report on our progress \u2013 we know there is always more we can achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Would a sustainability ranking be helpful in attracting the environmentally-conscious millennials into the industry? Ms Beaven says young people, the leaders of tomorrow, increasingly want to work for sustainably-minded organisations, so it is very important that companies who want to attract the best talent can showcase their sustainability commitments.<\/p>\n \u201cA sustainability ranking could be one way for companies to showcase their sustainability commitments \u2013 but there are other important ways to engage young people with our industry,\u201d she says. \u201cTo help educate and engage young people with the port, trade and logistics industries, DP World has developed a Global Education Programme for employees to deliver in schools around the world, which involves our employees teaching young people around the world about the maritime sector and related career options. Since the launch last year, we have reached over 7,500 students in 13 languages across 17 countries, with 96% reporting a positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n SIGHTS ON GLOBAL NO.1 RANKING<\/strong><\/p>\n Last year, the Port of Vancouver introduced its vision to be \u2018the world\u2019s most sustainable port\u2019. This vision is a reflection of the port authority\u2019s long-term goal to operate in a manner that will ensure that every Canadian continues to enjoy a healthy environment and the benefits of trade for generations, says spokeswoman Daniela Jang.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe are now benchmarking ourselves against world ports and will be setting up appropriate goals, objectives and metrics. Going forward, how we are doing will be reported in our biannual sustainability report.\u201d<\/p>\n The port authority defines a sustainable port as one that promotes economic prosperity through trade, supports a healthy environment and fosters thriving communities through a carefully balanced approach, she says.<\/p>\n That requires striking a careful balance between meeting the needs of customers and protecting the environment by offering financial incentives, such as discounts to harbour due rates, to customers that participate in a suite of available innovative environmental programmes and initiatives.<\/p>\n Are shipping companies and other customers focusing in on sustainability as a priority? \u201cThere is a shared interest in operating sustainably, including minimising the impact of operations on the environment and surrounding communities,\u201d says Ms Jang. \u201cThe port authority partners with industry and other port authorities, where possible, to advance towards its vision.\u201d<\/p>\n Through its EcoAction programme, Vancouver recognises carriers that go beyond requirements \u2013 offering discounted harbour dueS rates to ships that have implemented voluntary emission reduction measures and other environmental practices. Its Blue Circle Awards recognise marine carriers that excel in environmental stewardship and attain the highest participation rates in the EcoAction programme.<\/p>\n Ships can qualify for gold, silver or bronze levels, obtaining up to 47% off the basic harbour due rate, for meeting voluntary industry best practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Felicity Landon asks if there\u2019s a case for a sustainability ranking for ports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-2766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-terminal-operations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2766"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=2766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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