At the GreenPort Conference in Venice
ESPO officially launched the new EcoPorts portal today at the GreenPort Conference in Venice. The portal marks the integration of EcoPorts within the structure of ESPO.
Through this website, ESPO manages the EcoPorts network of ports and offers the opportunity to port authorities within its broad membership to use the well-established EcoPorts tools, Self Diagnosis Method (SDM) and Port Environmental Review System (PERS). SDM and PERS have been updated and re-launched as part of the services ESPO offers to its members.
The new EcoPorts portal incorporates SDM as an online-based tool and provides visibility and credit to port authorities that achieve and maintain an “Ecoports port” status.
The latter is achieved by any port registering within the new system and completing the online SDM questionnaire, contributing in this way to the up-to-date maintenance of the European benchmark of performance in port environmental management. Furthermore, the “Ecoports port” status allows ports to access, implement and get certified by PERS, the only port sector specific environmental management standard.
“ESPO is in a unique position to encourage best practice among its member ports and to set challenging targets.”, said ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven, “The integration of EcoPorts within the structure of ESPO and the new website form part of that process.
We are convinced that the new system will further trigger the interest of ports to join the EcoPorts network and use the available tools and services. In this way we can step up the significant progress that has been achieved by the European port sector in the field of environmental management during the last 15 years.”
Source: European Sea Ports Organisation
