EcoPorts becomes full part of ESPO

From January onwards, Ecoports will be officially integrated within the structure of ESPO. This has been confirmed during the final board meeting of the EcoPorts Foundation which was held beginning of December. The Foundation is now dissolved and the integration marks the start of a new era regarding port environmental management and sustainability in Europe. The European port sector has achieved significant progress in the field of environmental management during the last fifteen years and this has been largely driven through the longstanding close cooperation between ESPO and EcoPorts. The new way forward is warmly welcomed by all parties involved as it is expected to further drive the achieved progress and the sector’s efforts through the principle of voluntary self regulation. Consequently, ESPO is now the party responsible for the management of the EcoPorts network of ports and the management and dissemination of the well established EcoPorts tools, i.e. the Self Diagnosis Methodology (SDM) and Port Environmental Review System (PERS). The opening of the EcoPorts tools to the whole ESPO membership is expected to encourage further their use by European ports and to broaden the EcoPorts network. SDM and PERS are currently being updated and will be re-launched by the beginning of 2011. In parallel, a new online system is being created for the management of the EcoPorts network and the use of the tools. The new system will be owned by ESPO and will be officially launched during the GreenPort conference in Venice on 23-24 February 2011. It will be incorporating the new SDM as an online based tool and will be providing visibility and credit to ports that achieve and maintain an ‘EcoPorts port’ status. The latter can be achieved by any port registering within the new system and completing the online SDM questionnaire, thus contributing in such way to the up-to-date maintenance of the European benchmark of performance in port environmental management. The ‘EcoPorts Port’ status will then allow ports to access, implement and get certified by PERS, the only port sector specific environmental management standard. ESPO is committed to maintain the EcoPorts name and brand and to continue promoting the EcoPorts guiding principle of sharing environmental experiences and best practices between port professionals in Europe. Under the new set-up, ESPO will continue working in close cooperation with Cardiff University and Lloyds Register, the main partners involved in the processing and analysis of SDM and PERS respectively. In terms of ESPO internal organisation, EcoPorts will be regarded as an integral part of the Sustainable Development Committee.
(Source:www.transportweekly.com)