A fuzzy cognitive map-based approach to prioritise environmental objectives in the environmental management systems of ports

Abstract

Increased attention is being paid to the environmental and social impacts of ports, adding pressure to the port authorities towards sustainable port management and development. Environmental priorities of European ports have changed over the years, however environmental aspects such as energy consumption, carbon footprint and waste are being monitored increasingly. A certified environmental management system (EMS) and definition of objectives and targets for monitoring environmental aspects are being used to assess the environmental management performance of the ports. This paper proposes a modelling methodology based on fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) to prioritise environmental objectives and targets as part of an EMS for a port and shows a case study for the port of Thessaloniki. The case study builds on the results of a previous study that employed the ecological footprint (EF) methodology to assess the CO2 emissions-related EF of the port of Thessaloniki for 2008-2009.