The World Ports Climate Action Program (WPCAP), the Port of Rotterdam’s initiative to make the port industry more environmentally-friendly has agreed on five points to increase sustainability.
In a statement, the Port of Rotterdam Authority said the points ranged from Just-in-Time (JIT) operations and increasing collaboration between ports and terminal operators.
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They were reached during a video conference between the CEOs of 11 WPCAP participants. A recurring theme was ports’ desire to take control over their own destiny instead of waiting for institutions to introduce adjusted rules and regulations.
The WPCAP CEO’s adopted five agreements summarized as follows:
- Speed optimisation. JIT and enhanced planning on routing and turn-around time in ports are important steps can prevent emissions and the amount of time vessels spend at ports.
- Power-to-ship (shore power). This has the clear potential to enhance air quality whilst reducing to emissions in the port as ships can switch off their own power generation and make use of, preferably, green energy infrastructure supplied by port and terminal organisations.
- Alternative fuels. The WPCAP CEOs have agreed to facilitate the launch of pilot projects in 2021 on new sustainable low carbon marine fuels in their ports that will directly benefit deep-sea/ocean-going vessels.
- Collaboration with terminal operators on data sharing. The WPCAP will intensify working relations with terminal operators in their ports in order to introduce equipment demonstration and build a database for information sharing. There also was a strong plea to increase involvement of terminal operators in WPCAP actions.
- Policy coordination. Many ports around the world are using policy instruments to stimulate emission reductions in the maritime industry, such as incentives, pricing policies and regulations. The WPCAP CEOs concluded that increased coordination and further development of those efforts – taking in mind guiding principles of competition law – could strengthen efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of those instruments.
Get more information on the WPCAP’s agreement here.
