Abstract
Climate change is an established and growing priority environmental issue. This paper investigates the importance of climate change in ports through a research-based survey on data collected from participants at the Greenport Congress in Valencia in 2018. The data for this paper were obtained from the responses of 55 port professionals and environmental specialists that replied to a questionnaire survey during the Congress. Questionnaires were analyzed to identify the opinions and experience of delegates. A collaborative approach involving the free exchange of knowledge and experience between port professionals, industry practitioners and academia is the model most likely to deliver practicable options to the mutual advantage of operators, local communities, regulatory authorities and the environment. Based on the results of this survey, Climate Change occupies the 6th position among top 10 environmental port priorities and Carbon Footprint the 8th position. This reflects the importance of these two issues in the whole set of environmental priorities. Data collection has been identified as the main challenge ports encounter to implement a carbon management program. The need for a common port-sector Carbon Footprint scheme, which would benefit individual port authorities and the port-sector as a whole, was highlighted by the participants.
Highlights
A port is a complex system that includes multiple elements many of which contribute to its environmental footprint
This paper investigates the importance of climate change in ports through a research-based survey on data collected from participants at the Greenport Congress in Valencia in 2018
In order to reduce these negative impacts, greening and sustainability issues have become more important in the maritime industry in recent years due to the legal requirements coming from international regulatory bodies such as international Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union (EU), and due to external pressure by stakeholders in the industry
Summary
A port is a complex system that includes multiple elements many of which contribute to its environmental footprint. These can be segregated in maritime activities, in-port operations and hinterland transport. The port sector itself has been pro-active in delivering practicable options for dealing with the overall environmental challenge with initiatives such as EcoPorts (https://www.ecoports.com) and the International Associations of Ports and Harbors’ World Ports Sustainability Program It may reasonably be argued that the current pandemic of COVID-19 has further heightened the whole awareness of the quality of the environment in its broadest concept, given its significance to the quality of life of society and the challenges of keeping the key services of ports and international trade in operation
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