Countdown to World Ports Sustainability Program launch – Antwerp 22-23 March

The World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP) will be launched in Antwerp on 22-23 March. Hosted by Antwerp Port Authority, this exciting two-day event is set to map out ways in which world ports will contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Initiated by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), WPSP will apply the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along five themes: future-proof infrastructure, climate and energy, community relations, safety and security and governance and ethics. In this newsletter, we regularly report on the implementation of the program. If you have thought-provoking stories, relevant news or ground-breaking projects related to the WPSP themes, please share them with us via: mail@sustainableworldports.org.

Click here for the schedule of the WPSP launch event.

IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim with IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven

IMO set to close gap between ship and shore
IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim will deliver the opening keynote address at the WPSP launch. In an exclusive interview for IAPH’s magazine Ports & Harbors, he speaks with IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven about the need for more communication between ships and ports on issues like increasing ship size and automated shipping. The Secretary General highlights that the IMO would be the right platform for such important discussions. Mr Lim also pleads for a stronger involvement of the port sector in the ongoing work of the FAL and MEPC committees and better information sharing between port and maritime administrations.

The full interview with Mr Lim appears in the March-April issue of Ports & Harbors.

Emanuele Grimaldi

Global shipping prepares for carbon-neutral future
Expectations run high for the next gathering of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). At the April meetings, IMO Member States are set to adopt an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping. Global shipping organisations, led by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), have prepared the ground during previous MEPC sessions and intersessional working groups by setting out a vision of zero CO2 emissions from shipping in the second half of the century. At the WPSP launch event, Emanuele Grimaldi, Managing Director of Grimaldi Group will join Beatriz Yordi, Director European and International Carbon Markets at the European Commission, Hilde Luystermans, Chair of the Ethics Committee at Total and Johan Castwall, CEO of Ports of Stockholm for a roundtable discussion on carbon-neutral shipping and ways in which ports can facilitate the energy transition.

Read more: ICS policy on CO2 emissions

Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry

Sustainability requires the brightest talents
Innovation and education form an important connecting thread between the WPSP themes. Tackling issues like automation, energy transition and cybersecurity will require the brightest talents. At the WPSP launch event, Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of the World Maritime University (WMU), will share views with young and senior professionals from ports, shipping and academia on how we can prepare future generations for careers in ports and shipping. Based in Malmö, Sweden, the WMU was set up by the IMO in 1983 to provide postgraduate education, research and capacity building to ensure safe, secure, and efficient shipping on clean oceans. To mark its 35th anniversary, the WMU is establishing the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, a concrete response to UN Sustainable Development Goals 14 (oceans), 13 (climate action) and 4 (education).

Find out more about WMU’s contribution to the 2030 Sustainability Agenda.

World’s First Academic Chair on Sustainable Transformation On 1 February Dr Wayne Visser held his inaugural lecture as holder of the world’s first Chair on Sustainable Transformation. The Chair was initiated by the Antwerp Management School (AMS) and is supported by BASF Antwerp, the Port of Antwerp and Randstad Belgium. Professor Visser is widely hailed as a global thought leader in sustainable business and corporate social responsibility. In his inaugural lecture, he explained how strategies of integration can redirect us from sustainability-as-usual to sustainable transformation, or, in other words, a U-turn towards a thriving future. Professor Visser will join the WPSP launch event, introducing the interactive workshops on 23 March. These workshops will dive into the five WPSP themes, taking stock of ongoing international collaboration and setting out a work programme for the future. How does WPSP work? The World Ports Sustainability Program has three essential objectives. First, it will establish and maintain a global library of best practices. Second, it will provide a platform for running collaborative projects and, third, it will function as a think-tank and breeding ground for new collaborative projects. In addition, the program will provide guidance, support and recognition to ports worldwide and report regularly about the sustainability performance of the global port sector. A dedicated website is to host the global library of best practices, the platform for running projects and platform for new ones. The initial partners of WPSP include the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), the International Association of Cities and Ports (AIVP), the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH). IAPH leads and coordinates the implementation of the program. WPSP is open to other international port-related stakeholder organisations on a structural partnership basis. For more information about potential partnerships, please contact: patrick.verhoeven@iaphworldports.org The World Ports Sustainability Program is an initiative of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) that aims to demonstrate global leadership of ports in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.  The program empowers port authorities worldwide to collaborate with logistics, industrial and societal stakeholders in creating sustainable added value for the communities and wider regions in which their ports are embedded. For more information, please contact: mail@sustainableworldports.org

17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP)