The LOOP-Ports project led by the Fundación Valenciaport and funded by EIT Climate-KIC has been awarded at the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) World Port Sustainability Awards 2020 – in the “Climate and Energy” category.
The award ceremony, initially planned to be held in Antwerp in March as part of the IAPH’s World Ports Conference 2020, and subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19, was finally held this morning virtually through a webinar attended by the IAPH Managing Director, Patrick Verhoeven, and by representatives of the Fundación Valenciaport and the PAV, as well as the other award-winning entities.
The LOOP-Ports project has as main goal to facilitate the transition to a more circular economy in the port sector, where products, materials and resources are maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the waste generation minimised.
The Network of ports supporting Loop-Ports project is increasing with the implication of more ports, being currently a total of 40, that could take advantage of the project’s results, including the development of business models and their replicability in other ports with similar characteristics, as well as tailored training activities for the staff working at the port cluster.
The next steps of the project will be to carried out 30 workshops (20 at port level and 10 at institutional level) before the end of 2020. These workshops will be celebrated in, at least, six countries, (Denmark, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy) with the participation of the stakeholders included in the network in order to put together some initiatives and gather feedback regarding circular economy activities in ports.
The LOOP-ports project fits into the EIT Climate-KIC Transformation, in time strategy, which formulates 8 Deep Demonstrations to respond to the demand for systemic change to achieve in Europe the goals set by the Paris Agreement, in time.
This project is aligned with the Deep Demonstrations Net-Zero-Emission, Resilient Maritime Hubs. We are working with ambitious partners on land (ports) and at sea (shipping industry) who share an ambition to create a circular, inclusive, net-zero-emissions maritime sector. The maritime sector accounts for 90% of global trade and 3.1% of global GHG emissions – a figure projected to increase threefold by 2050. Ports are places where multiple systems collide – shipping, energy, waste, tourism and other transport for example. They are emissions hotspots in themselves, but also hubs with the potential to effect enormous change. We are working with ports in Valencia and Piraeus as well as the Cyprus Ship Registry, through the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Shipping.
GREEN C PORTS
Another award went to the GREEN C PORTS project, which is also led by the Fundación Valenciaport , an EIT Climate-KIC partner, in this case in the “Resilient Infrastructure” category.
World Port Sustainability Awards and World Ports Sustainability Program
The World Port Sustainability Awards were created to recognize the best projects registered in the IAPH World Port Sustainability Program (WPSP), created in May 2017 with the aim of coordinating the future sustainability efforts of ports around the world and foster international cooperation with supply chain partners, always guided by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the European Organization of Sea Ports (ESPO), the International Association of Cities and Ports (AIVP) and the World Association for River Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) are part of this program as strategic partners.
The international initiatives presented to these awards and specifically the winners will undoubtedly serve as inspiration for ports seeking to integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into their strategy, in their daily activities and in their clusters.
This article first appeared on International Association of Harbours and Ports (IAHP) News on June 25, 2020.
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