Climate change top priority for European ports in new ESPO’s Environmental Report 2022

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) presented its ESPO Annual ESPO Environmental Report 2022 – EcoPortInsights. The ESPO Environmental Report is part of EcoPorts, the environmental flagship initiative of ESPO. This 7th edition of the report is based on data from 92 European ports from 20 European countries, who filled in the EcoPorts Self-Diagnosis Method (SDM) (www.ecoports.com). The SDM is a free checklist of good practices that provides the database for the report.

Climate change has become the top environmental priority of ports

The ESPO Environmental Report 2022 contains a number of positive trends amongst key indicators. For the first time since the start of monitoring, climate change has become the top environmental priority of ports. This underscores the value of the Environmental Report reporting on environmental performance of the sector. It provides ESPO and European policymakers with insights on the environmental issues that European ports are facing. The other Top 10 priorities remain almost the same as for the past years, with air quality and energy efficiency joining climate change in the top three of port priorities.

In 2022, the report finds that ports continue to improve their environmental management, addressing their top priorities to a greater degree than in the past.

A growing share of ports are also getting certified with PERS, the only port-specific environmental standard on the market developed by ports, for ports.

Some key indicators such as environmental training programmes for port employees and monitoring of air quality saw slight downturns compared to last year, and will be followed up by ESPO ahead of next year’s report.

The ESPO Environmental Report strengthens the long-standing efforts of European ports to monitor and address high priority environmental issues, whilst communicating port efforts to key stakeholders.

“Since 2020, the world is going through never before seen crises and Europe’s ports are facing challenges they never had to face before. These challenges come on top of long-term efforts to move towards a more sustainable future in the maritime sector, with ports seeking to do their part in the decarbonisation of Europe. It is reassuring to see that the challenging period we are going through is not holding back ports to continue to engage towards their environmental goals and strategy. I hope this report is also a stimulus for ports to continue on this path,” says Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.

“As the EcoPorts Network celebrates its 25-year anniversary, the 2022 Annual ESPO Environmental Report shows that European ports continue the good work with environmental monitoring and management. The 2022 Report highlights strengths to build on, and issues to address in the years to come. The work continues to make sure that the EcoPorts Network provides ports with essential tools to further engage in greening from the bottom up,” says Valter Selén, EcoPorts Coordinator.