"Greening Ports"-side-event during IAPH World-Ports Congress in Hamburg

NABU-interim statement on "Clean Air in Ports": further environmental impacts from ports

On June 1st the conference "Greening Ports" will take place in the premises of NABU Hamburg. Since many years NABU works on the consequences of poor air quality from ships and in ports. Over a three year period NABU conducted the EU LIFE+ project „Clean Air in Ports“: At six conferences in European port cities stakeholders and experts from the maritime and port community learned about, presented and discussed the matter of air pollution in ports. A comprehensive manual was compiled that, amongst other things, lists several examples from European and international ports to reduce air emissions. The just finished manual "Clean Air in Ports" will be presented during the conference.

At the “Greening Ports” conference NABU intends to show that other factors of economic activity in a port influence human health and environment such as light, noise, waste, water quality and use of spaces. Besides the assessment from the European Commission about the health costs of economic activities in ports, scientist from the Leibnitz institute will talk about light emissions, scientists from the Helmholtz institute about consequences of air emissions for human health. Further, practical solutions to reduce the impact of ports on the environment will be presented: The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) will present its smartPORT concept and the Port of Amsterdam its activities to reduce noise and light emissions. The CEO of HPA, Jens Meier, will open the event with a keynote speech.

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