British Ports Association joins global ports sustainability programme

The British Ports Association (BPA) has joined the World Ports Sustainability Programme as a partner to join the global drive to improve the ports industry's further integration of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals in their business and operations. The World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP) was founded in 2018 by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), of which the BPA is an associate member.

This the first major step the BPA is taking in a more sustained and coordinated effort to support UK ports in decarbonising their operations. The BPA represents over 400 ports, terminals and port facilities, accounting for 86% of UK port tonnage as well as all the major energy and passenger hubs. Joining the WPSP will give BPA members access to the IAPH’s extensive global suite of port environmental best practices and networks.

The program seeks to enhance and coordinate future sustainability efforts of ports worldwide and foster international cooperation with partners in the supply chain, covering climate and energy, resilience, community outreach, health safety and security, governance and ethics.

Earlier this year, the BPA and IAPH recently jointly hired Rhona Macdonald as the BPA’s sustainability advisor and IAPH’s IMO liaison officer. Rhona will play a key role supporting UK ports in their sustainability efforts.

World Ports Sustainability Programme
Commenting, Mark Simmonds, the BPA’s Director of Policy and External Affairs, said: "I am delighted that the BPA is joining the WPSP as a partner. Our members are extremely diverse in their size, business model, speciality and in terms of where they are on their sustainability ‘journey’. Some of our members are already engaged with the programme, but this will give more UK ports the opportunity to learn from and contribute to a growing global bank of knowledge, experience and expertise."

IAPH Technical Director Antonis Michail commented: "Having BPA join the Program as partner will also give us the opportunity to further share best practices from UK ports as they submit their own innovative sustainability projects. We also look forward to BPA experts working alongside and providing input into our technical committees and partnership programmes."

Notes
The British Ports Association represents the interests of over 100 port members, covering more than 400 ports, terminal operators and port facilities.
The UK ports industry plays a key role in the country’s economy as 95% of the UK’s international trade – imports and exports – is carried through British ports.
UK ports also handle more than 60 million international and domestic passenger journeys each year.
The UK port industry is the second largest in Europe, handling around 500 million tonnes of freight each year.
UK ports directly employ around 115,000 people.