Nearly 1000 ports and port-related companies committed themselves to achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), during an event in Antwerp, under the auspices of the World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP), on 22 March.
More specifically, partners will focus on five practical areas:
1. developing robust infrastructure, ready to face the challenges of the future;
2. climate & energy, with the emphasis on initiatives that contribute to achieving the objectives of the Paris climate agreement;
3. societal integration, by improving relations between ports and cities;
4. safety and security, including cyber-security, and
5. rolling out transparent, ethical policies and management.
The commitments made by the international port community are recorded in the historic Charter of the World Ports Sustainability Program, which now received the signature of the following founding fathers: ESPO (European Sea Ports Organisation), AIVP, the Worldwide Network of Port Cities, AAPA (American Association of Port Authorities), PIANC, the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure, and IAPH (International Association of Ports and Harbours), who together with Antwerp Port Authority took the initiative to set up the WPSP. Together these organisations represent nearly 1000 ports and port-related companies and bodies from more than 100 countries around the world.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Antwerp Port Authority and host at the event, said:
Ports all over the world are aiming for a future built around sustainable economic models. This transition process includes the elements that will help us to respond not only to the global but also the local challenges currently facing us, such as climate change, mobility, digitalisation, migration and societal integration.
Other speakers at the WPSP event included HM Queen Mathilde of Belgium, one of the worldwide SDG ambassadors, Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the IMO, and Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the UN’s climate conference.
