Sustainability Development and Management Strategies for Ports - Term Paper Example

Formulating Sustainability Development and Management Strategies for Ports s 18 March 0 Formulating Sustainability Development and Management Strategies for Ports Ports are an important part of the shipping and the maritime industries in general. In Europe, ports and the shipping industry, in general, have been crucial resources in enhancing the competitiveness of Europe in the global trade sector. The world trade presently relies on up to 80 percent for their transport services on water which makes ports a point that attracts very close attention. Expectedly, these are the key nods in the transport chains and thus the activities taking place at these locations have to be controlled for sustainability and proper functions (Wang 2008). This has called on various national and supranational bodies in respective jurisdictions to formulate policies that seek to ensure that sustainability and proper management of ports are achieved in various countries. The aim of this paper is to analyse the roles of major national and supranational bodies and the respective policy, and determining their impact on the ports sector. Additionally, the paper will discuss the impacts that these bodies have on the international logistics and transport industry. The discussion will then have a look at various factors that affect the ports in regard to the administrative, operational and management structures. Figure 1: World’s Main Intermediate Hubs, (http://www.irjabs.com/files_site/paperlist/r_790_130511112323.pdf) 2.0 Role of various national and supranational bodies and policy in the ports sector As earlier mentioned, ports are considered to be the key nods in the transport chains in the shipping and maritime industries and thus it is imperative that special attention is accorded to them. This has resulted in formulation of various policies and governing bodies directed towards management of ports in most European countries as well as virtually all parts of the globe (Chlomoudis & Pallis 2002; Breitling & Leader 2010). Ports are tasked with various responsibilities in facilitating sustainability in the transport sector. The key responsibilities include leveraging various partners through collaborating with other logistics and transportation partners and reducing their self-sourced emissions. The main challenges affecting ports include issues of environmental impacts contributed by them while also the economic aspect comes in the mix as well. 2.1 Environmental management of ports In the maritime transport industry, the main topic of discussion has always remained to be the concerns regarding the effects of the trade and activities involved in the environment that is the seas, oceans and other mediums of water transport. Additionally, the emissions of carbon and other environmentally harmful gases have also been a source of contention between various industry players and authorities. It is for this cause that various bodies and policies have been put in place to control and management the activities and actions of the industry which primarily targets the ports and other areas. Perhaps the most popular and influential body that has been on the frontline towards management of the environmental aspect of ports and maritime industry management is the United Nation, through its wing body, the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP). The UN has created the United Nation Climate Change Convention that targets to reduce air emissions of the shipping industries as part of its responsibility in controlling the emissions from major national economies. Additionally, the World Port Climate Declaration of 2008 is another similar initiative that were directed towards reducing the carbon footprints and consequently handle issues of global warming and climate change. This declaration primarily targeted the mode in which goods move across the globe while also providing the regulations that govern ports activities in the countries of origin, as well as destination. International Maritime Organization (IMO) which is certainly the most important legislative authority in the maritime and shipping sector has also played a huge role in the management of the ports and the industry in general as regards the environmental aspect. The body addresses various core issues such as adopting initiatives that emphasize on market-based measures as well as laying out mandatory technical measures that enhance energy efficiency in the machinery used for the respective functions at the ports. The Green Award Foundation and the Clean Cargo Working Group are foundations which have been launched to promote pollution reduction. Additionally, the International Association of Ports and Harbours launched its initiative program referred to as the World Port Climate Initiative that seeks to reduce the emission of Green House gases while also improving the productivity at the ports. In 2010, the World Port Climate Initiative came up with a regulatory index that sought to provide information on the environmental performances of ships referred to as the Environmental Ship Index (Wuisan L, et al. 2012). The indexing also serves as a market-driven strategy that aims at creating a financial incentive for the shipping companies to invest in technology that supports environmentally friendly initiatives. Additionally, other initiatives, both private and others at respective national levels have been set in place to serve similar functions as World Port Climate Initiative in most parts of the globe (Wuisan et al. 2012). 2.2 The Economic Aspect of Port management Following the global financial crisis that affected the globe in 2008, the shipping industry was one of the biggest casualty due to a drastic fall in export and import business across the world. For example, the business volumes fell by about 4.5 percent in the following year after the recession had started (2009) leading to a drop of total good loaded from 8.2 billion tonnes to 7.8 billion tonnes in the globe (Heaver 2006). As expected, this had a significant impact on the world trade thus affecting the global economic growth. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicated that the effect on the economic growth had similar impacts on other areas such as oil drilling capacity and expenditure on refinery activities among others (Dalal-Clayton & Sadler 2005) Other economic factors affecting ports management and administration is the high costs of development and improvement activities (Ducruet 2006). For example, electrification and technological upgrades of ports may be quite expensive for reach by most global countries and thus hindering the efficiency of these ports (Dinwoodie et al. 2012). In Rotterdam, for example, the electrification of the shore-side port area became an area of concern in regard to the high cost incurred in setting up the system in relation to the benefits expected from the procedure. The Dutch government did not find it a viable option largely due to its high cost and comparatively lower benefits especially in regard to the environment. Additionally, the process did not have any guidelines from the international circles at the time and this meant that it would be risky to partake such as a huge project in the absence of such important directions. The process of setting up the shore-side electrification project also suffered from an uncertainty concerning the future of the expected standards such as the cold-ironing standards (Lam & Van De Voorde 2012; Van Hooydonk 2006). 3.0 Generic templates and their use in port sustainability Having looked at the environmental management of ports and its economic aspect, the report will discuss some of the generic templates and initiatives that are used to conduct ports sustainability today. Some of the common generic templates include the International Organization for Standardization Template, Carbon Disclosure Project and World Ports Climate Initiative (Kreis 2014, p.85). International Organization for Standardization Template was founded with a purpose of establishing and outlining the required international standards as regards to issues such as environmental concerns and products. The two templates under this organization, ISO 14001 and ISO 26000 are used to provide environmental guidance and management standards while also promoting socially accepted operations and behaviours. Additionally, the Carbon Disclosure Project is another initiative that deals with all industries stakeholders in an attempt to enhance transparency in matters of greenhouse gas emissions and other related environmental aspects. The initiative provides a generic template that enables ports and other corporations to audit their environmental impact. The World Ports Climate Initiative has over the years, facilitated ports sustainability issues such as clean air and calculation of carbon prints. The body has developed generic templates that help to monitor environmental aspects such as carbon monitoring, cargo handling and other shore-power initiatives. As seen, these templates and initiatives have been used in various industries and corporations with each serving towards achieving ports sustainability especially in terms of environmental sustainability. The general areas in which they serve include reducing carbon and other greenhouse gases effects on the ports and other environmental conservation practices. 4.0 Impacts of the National and Supranational bodies in International Logistics As observed in the earlier discussion, both national and Supranational bodies are very influential in formulating guidelines and policies that seek to harmonise and control the shipping industry and the ports in the respective locations of the world. The bodies play a role in governing the major areas of concern such as the environmental and the economic aspects that come with the ports and the shipping industry in general (Roe 2008). In the international logistics, these bodies are tasked with ensuring that the set guidelines are followed which is important for the proper management and control of the industry in general. The national bodies in respective countries implement policies formulated by supranational bodies such as the UN affiliated bodies and other global governing bodies. Additionally, the national bodies are also required to formulate policies and guidelines specific to challenges characteristic of their respective jurisdictions (OECD 2012). 5.0 Factors affecting Ports, their hinterland and foreland Today, most ports face various issues that greatly affect them in their provision of services and activities. The main challenge facing most ports is congestion and inadequacy of space for efficient goods carriage and movement (Islam & Olsen 2013; Long et al. 2014). Additionally, most ports lack the necessary technology and human skills which renders them inefficient and consequently slow in handling carriages (Liu et al. 2013; Hoyle 2000). Lastly, the unavailability of the necessary measures at the majority of ports has resulted in increased pollution at their hinterlands and forelands which makes the functioning and operations at those ports unsustainable in the long run. Bibliography Breitling, U., & Leader, G. T. (2010, August). Sustainable Shipping and Port Development. In 5th Regional EST Forum in Asia. Chlomoudis, C. I., & Pallis, A. A. (2002). Trends in investments in Port infrastructure in the Mediterranean countries: Convergence or divergence to EU policies. Spoudai Quartelry Economic Journal, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 65-82. Dalal-Clayton, B., & Sadler, B. 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