Clean Air in Ports: London

Meetings and Workshop in Great Britain

In the first week of May 2014 the “Clean Air in Ports” project addressed air pollution in British ports during several meetings and a small workshop. The latter one was made possible by the British Ports Association (BPA) and the UK Major Ports Group, where NABU presented and discussed the project “Clean Air in Ports” with environmental officers from both associations.

Main results from this event were that air pollution in Great Britain in general is perceived as to be a problem but the contribution of British ports is mostly seen as small. Major British ports are located on the east coast and due to west winds emissions are blown away. Although there are far more than 100 British ports, most of them are comparatively small and that, too, is why it is assumed that each single port does not contribute a lot to the general problem. The bigger issue for ports at the moment is reducing CO2 emissions. Regarding this it was discussed that many measures reduce CO2 and at the same time air pollution, but not all, which sometime is a problem.

Besides the workshop separate meetings with relevant stakeholders were held:

• With the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on air pollution from ships and the role of ports at the IMO
• With the Dover City Council and Dover Harbour Board, together with the Kings College ( who advise cities on their air quality management plans)
• With the City of London Cooperation and Clean Air in London.

If you would like to get more information on these meetings, please do not hesitate to contact us at ports@NABU.de.

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