But throughout the programme, common themes emerged – the need for integration and collaboration.<\/p>\n
Conference chairman and moderator Christopher Wooldridge told delegates in his final day summary: \u201cThere were so many topics and issues covered but time and again we have heard of the need for an integrated approach and collaboration. Twenty-five years ago, ports would say \u2018we don\u2019t do environment\u2019 \u2013 now look at the best practice between you and what you are sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The only way forward<\/strong><\/p>\n A green port will handle more goods and be more successful, he emphasised. \u201cYou can\u2019t have sustainable development without development. You balance that development with a better environmental management programme.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have heard splendid examples of surveys, monitoring, management, digitalisation, automation \u2013 and, in the end, it absolutely comes back to the people who break the rules and make the rules. That has a profound effect. We have to bring people and society with us as we move towards sustainable development.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, there were calls for fairness and a level playing field in the transition \u2013 particularly relating to the extension of the European Union\u2019s Emissions Trading System (ETS) to shipping from January 2024. The ETS, part of the EU\u2019s Fit for 55 package, attracted some strong comment during the GreenPort keynote panel discussion entitled \u2018Climate Change: energy efficiency, GHG emissions reduction & adaption\u2019.<\/p>\n Isabelle Ryckbost, secretary general of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), noted: \u201cGreen and sustainability is the only way forward. We do not discuss the goals\/aims. But now we are getting into the phase of implementation [of European regulations] \u2013 and it has been a lot of very ambitious initiatives at the same time \u2013 we already see some problems and some difficulties.<\/p>\n \u201cPorts start getting into the details of what it will mean \u2013 and for ports it is a very strict framework, whereas for ships there is quite a lot of flexibility. For ships, there is room to evade [Fit for 55] and go to ports outside Europe. Also implementation can be quite costly \u2013 investments can be quite risky.\u201d<\/p>\n Building resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n Competitiveness and resilience are key, said Lamia Kerdjoudj, secretary general of the Federation of European Private Port Operators (FEPORT), which has since raised alarm over potential cargo diversions as a result of the ETS regime and called for an immediate study into its impact.<\/p>\n Ms Kerdjoudj emphasised the importance of dialogue with policymakers. \u201cAt the end of the day, it is also about trying to remain competitive. Environmental ambition has a cost \u2013 who is going to pay for that? For the moment, it is not so clear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cWe are of course taking very proactive action within the EU when it comes to the environment and this is something we should be proud of but at the same time, other regions are not taking the same legislation, so competitors close to Europe are not going to take the same rules. That is of great concern. We want close monitoring by the European Commission on the impacts \u2013 because, as you know, when cargo leaves a port, it generally doesn\u2019t come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Isabel Moura Ramos, executive board member at the Port of Lisbon Authority emphasised the need to think about new business models inside the ports \u2013 \u201cThere is no way out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She described the port\u2019s discussions about the future of inland navigation to achieve a modal shift \u2013 \u201cbut we talk with operators and they say, who is going to pay for the movements in the terminal to the barge and from the barge to logistics and we say \u2013 we all need to pay it, it is not just the port authority. We are already paying that with the external negative impacts we have from the trucks that go out of our terminal. This is a difficult exercise but there is openness to new business models.\u201d<\/p>\n Level playing field<\/strong><\/p>\n Maja Markov\u010di\u0107 Kostelac, executive director of EMSA, said: \u201cCompetition is the fuel of a market economy; of course it will always exist but here we are talking about a higher stake. If we don\u2019t act, the price which we normally all pay, as consumers, will be much higher. We as Europe are not just introducing high standards to implement them, but we are really trying to spread and promote a global approach.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk is global, maritime transport is global, so solutions should be found on a global level. Nevertheless, we all know that the global community is not a nice family sitting around the table sticking to agreement. We are not na\u00efve.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Markov\u010di\u0107 referred to the significant progress made in summer 2023 with the launch of the IMO\u2019s revised GHG strategy and said she wanted to avoid an \u201cus and them\u201d focus.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are discussing with the shipping companies, they say \u2018we have to abide by the rules, but still don\u2019t know what the best technology will be\u2019. But what about supply? Are we going to be able to bunker our ships with ammonia, methanol? I would say the concerns are equal on both sides.<\/p>\n \u201cLuckily for us in Europe, at least we have a number of different funds which can support this transition. Not all of it \u2013 we also expect private funds.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand, it is vital to ensure that there is a level playing field on the global scale and that also includes using resources to support the less privileged and less resourced if there was to be a transition at global level, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should bear in mind that this transition is also offering great competitive advantages for all those who think green and act green.\u201d<\/p>\n Industry insight<\/strong><\/p>\n Larger ports tend to get most of the media attention for their \u2018green\u2019 ambitions and achievements but smaller ports are also doing a lot and should not be underestimated, said Ana\u00eblle Boudry, senior policy adviser for sustainable development, energy and blue growth at ESPO and EcoPorts coordinator.<\/p>\n Speaking at the launch of the ESPO Environmental Report, she said that monitoring the top ten environmental priorities of the ports sector helps to establish priorities. The analysis showed that the top three concerns remained the same as 2022 \u2013 climate change, air quality and energy efficiency and the same as 2021, although in that year air quality was ahead of climate change.<\/p>\n The other concerns in the top ten were noise, water quality, ship\u2019s waste, relationship with the local community, land-related port development, port waste and, a new entrant at number ten, water-related port development.<\/p>\n Seventy percent of the port responders are adapting existing infrastructure to increase their resilience to climate change, 57% have onshore power supply available in one or more berths and 42% have LNG bunkering at the port.<\/p>\n Sixty-three percent of ports now offer reduced port fees for greener vessels, based on metrics such as waste management and segregation, GHG emission reduction, noise reduction and environmental certification.<\/p>\n \u2018I am doing my part\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The importance of everyone being able to say \u201cI am doing my part\u201d was emphasised by Nuno Matos, managing director of ECO-OIL, at a conference session considering waste management and the circular economy.<\/p>\n Mr Matos said the first sustainable fuel oil certified by the ISCC had a part to play in decarbonisation. EcoGreen Power Plus, a 100% recycled, low carbon alternative, could be a solution for maritime fuel, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo reach a new energy, we need to have a transition. There is uncertainty \u2013 no one knows what happens in the future. We have been talking about methanol, ammonia. The future might be a mix.\u201d<\/p>\n Effective use of digitalisation as a tool for sustainability was discussed at another session. Miika Murrem\u00e4ki, head of digital solutions at Kalmar, focused on data quality and ownership. \u201cEverything starts with data and when you start discussing it, you need to discuss who owns it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is a big topic across all industries.\u201d<\/p>\n Complex challenges require data-based decision-making with a remote and collaborative approach, he added.<\/p>\n Pablo Gal\u00e1n, head of business development at the University of Valencia\u2019s Simodar Training Solutions, urged delegates to \u2018be positive\u2019 about AI and automation. The implementation of AI would be more of a cultural issue [of acceptance] and is not going to be a threat, he said. \u201cAll the hassle with ChatGPT will be repeated with other aspects such as automation. Be positive \u2013 it is something that is going to improve the process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Describing use cases and experiences using data analytics, AI and simulation to increase productivity, sustainability and safety, Mr Murrem\u00e4ki gave details of predictive maintenance cases including brake dragging, wheel alignment and hydraulic pump issues, with associated analysis and action to save costs and avoid breakdowns, as well as examples of equipment simulation and demand planning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two days of presentations and panel discussions at GreenPort Congress 2023 covered everything from carbon neutral to carbon capture, from energy transition to ESG, writes\u00a0Felicity Landon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1376,22],"tags":[176,81,1092],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenport-congress-greenport","category-greenport-exclusive","category-products-services-greenport","tag-espo","tag-greenport-congress-cruise","tag-port-of-lisbon"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3975,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3973\/revisions\/3975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3973"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=3973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}