Environmental Protection and Sustainable Ports

This paper deals with sustainable development of the ports and special attention is given to environmental issues. The risk of pollution caused by ships depends largely on ship-owner as well as on ship master, but port authorities and governments can also reduce the risk of pollution by enforcement of international standards and charging policies. In 1993, The European Sea Ports Organisation(ESPO)was created. The European port sector has been monitoring selected environmental management indicators since 1996 as part of joint ESPO -EcoPorts initiatives. ESPO environmental report for year 2019 included set of indicators related to the Environmental Monitoring Programs of European ports. In 2019, the data were obtained from 94 ESPO-member EU/EEA ports that completed the online Eco Ports’ Self-Diagnosis Method(SDM). The indicators for the evaluation of the ports were: environmental management indicators, environmental monitoring indicators, top environmental priorities and green services to shipping. Transparency was the top priority environmental management indicator, while waste was the most frequently monitored environmental indicator in 2019. Environmental priorities of the European port sector were strongly focused on air quality, energy consumption and climate change. Green services to shipping included three categories of indicators: the provision of Onshore Power Supply OPS), the provision of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering facilities and Environmentally Differentiated Port Fees. The ESPO new tool for European ports is PortinSights, the digital platform includes throughput data, environmental data (EcoPorts) and governance data.