Five leading container port operators recently, for the fourth year in a row, completed a week-long global “Go Green” initiative across their international port and facility networks, yielding positive results in terms of environmental education and conservation.  

The collaboration consists of DP World, Hutchison Ports, PSA International, Port of Rotterdam Authority, and Shanghai International Port Group.

Under the theme of “Climate Change”, 7,500 employees of the five port operating groups volunteered time to CO2-mitigation, climate change resilience and staff education activities, said a statement.

Also included were coastal and wildlife preservation activities and a host of employee environmental education events, it said.

Across its portfolio of 78 terminals in 40 countries, global trade enabler DP World encouraged its employees and local communities to become “Climate Mates”.

During the month-long campaign in September, each of DP World’s business units chose a range of activities, including the increased use of recycled paper, switching to paperless billing and transactions, planting trees and using glass instead of plastic bottles to reduce their negative impact on deforestation and carbon emissions.

Other activities also included reusing waste materials from the port, food waste composting, cleaning terminal and surrounding areas, energy saving drives, volunteering at local wildlife parks and supporting environmental education in local communities.

Almost 3,000 employees committed 4,500 hours to environmental activities, collecting some 10,000 kilograms of waste, and planting over 4,000 trees, it added.

Focusing on progress through joint action, Hutchison Ports concentrated its efforts on locations where employees could take action in coordination with teams from other Go Green member port groups.

Over 500 Hutchison Ports employees engaged in an agenda of green races, climate-change resilience-building exercises and mass tree plantings – from mangroves to fruit trees. Efforts were made to choose activities that would benefit more than one environmental cause.

For instance, Hutchison Ports’ Shanghai Mingdong Container Terminal partnered with Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) in linking green race participation to a donation to the Shanghai operations of Roots & Shoots, a conservation charity founded by Dr Jane Goodall.

A total of 500 trees will be planted in West China’s Ningxia region in the name of the Shanghai terminals to both fight desertification and remove CO2 from the air, said a statement.

Working with Hutchison Ports in Shanghai, SIPG coordinated a line-up of events under the campaign name of “Green Port, Beautiful Shanghai”. The purpose was to raise employee and community awareness of environmental stewardship and to motivate employees to take part in habitat protection.

Apart from the green race in support of Roots & Shoots, SIPG organised a green port project demonstration, granted a port ecosystem knowledge award, and undertook spill prevention drills and port basin clean-ups.

These exercises are all in line with goals set during SIPG’s three-year environmental plans – to build a “resource-saving, environmentally friendly” port by 2020.

In Rotterdam, the Port of Rotterdam Authority organised an activity involving the city's major container terminal operators and the bureau Stadsnatuur Rotterdam, an organisation that collects information on flora and fauna in the Rotterdam area and provides conservation advice.

Participants planted 750 sea buckthorn bushes on nearby sand dunes. The idea was to build coastal and port resilience by working with nature instead of against it. The shrubs will also help protect biodiversity by keeping people out of an adjacent bird sanctuary.

Under the banner of “Go Green”, 3,950 people at PSA ports around the world engaged in a diverse range of activities aimed at raising awareness of environmental concerns and taking action to conserve, recycle and reduce.

Activities included the rehabilitation of mangrove swamp ecosystems through replanting, a roving environmental exhibition housed within a container, the clean-up of coastlines and public areas, in addition to recycling projects at ports and offices around the world. In total, 967 seedlings were planted, and 15.2 tonnes of used items and 12 tonnes of trash were collected for recycling.

DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “This environmental initiative shows how industry partnerships can create more impact. As global economies develop it is extremely important that we use natural resources wisely and we work hard to leave a legacy wherever we operate.”

“It is essential that future leaders develop the awareness to protect our environment. These Go Green activities, coupled with our Global Education and Solar Power Programmes, are important milestones in our efforts to bring positive and long-term change,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service