Developing a classification framework for assessing ports’ environmental effectiveness
Olli-Pekka Brunila Project manager, University of Turku, Centre for Maritime Studies, Finland
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[email protected] Vappu Kunnaala-Hyrkki Project manager, University of Turku, Centre for Maritime Studies, Finland
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[email protected] Tommi Inkinen (Corr.) Professor, University of Turku, Centre for Maritime Studies, Finland
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[email protected]
Extended abstract Purpose and Research Question: The regulation landscape of the Baltic Sea is changing all the time towards a greener society. One of the biggest recent changes has been the Sulphur Directive (2012/33/EU) and IMO’s SECA recommendation. NOx emissions will be the next issue for regulation. While the EU-level legislation is uniform for member countries, previous studies have showed that there is a lot variation between countries in the actual implementation of the legislation and in how ports manage emissions (e.g. Kunnaala-Hyrkki et al. 2015). A stable economical environment requires a predictable regulation landscape and thus it can be said that the continuing changes in the Baltic Sea Region might negatively influence the region’s potential for growth. Previous study by Kunnaala-Hyrkki et al. (2015) showed that there are also differences in national approaches to environmental regulation and the permits related to the environment. The research questions are: 1. What kind of key environmental issue should be incorporated into the port environmental effectiveness assessment framework? 2. What should be the performance criteria that address the key environmental issues and allow for comparison between different ports?
Some examples for the potential criteria or measured categories are: • Energy Efficiency • Waste Management • Eco-driving • Water Conservation • Staff Awareness and Training • Environmental Management System • Stakeholder Dialogue Key Literature Review Pollution (from ships, port operations and logistics) has a direct connection with handled cargo volumes in the ports. Dense ship traffic, port operations and port related land transportation cause a lot of different kinds of emissions to air and water. Especially ships produce waste, black and grey waters, ballast waters etc. Emissions to air are the most important factors that increase the greenhouse effect and climate change. The main source is exhaust gas from combustion engines that are used in marine and road traffic and partially in train traffic, as well as, working machines in the port area. In addition to emissions to air and water, ports are facing many other challenges also, such as the changes in the economy, increasing competition, as well as various environmental and other legislative changes. Globalization and an increasing demand for goods have led to a growing requirement for freight transport in Europe. Transport is responsible for around a quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions making it the second biggest greenhouse gas-emitting sector after energy. (European commission, 2012). Maritime transport emits around 1.000 million tons of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2,5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions (IMO 2015). Ports’ competitiveness is comprised of several other factors: geographical location, logistical connections, ship connections to other ports, port infrastructure and port operations. According Kunnaala-Hyrkki et al. (2015), ports also have a lot to gain from implementing environmental measures. For example, obtaining a greener image will come more and more important factor to the ports and its customers in the future. Because of the changing regulatory environment and the growing competition between ports, it is vital to study how environmental performance measuring and monitoring practices and standards, as well as, best practices are executed in the Baltic Sea Region and how they should be performed in the future. In order to facilitate competition, the ports’ environmental performance measurements and practices should be comparable. Yet, nowadays it is not so. Ports have adopted different kinds of standards and best practices and measure their environmental
performance with different metrics and criteria. In addition, ports are different, which is why all the standards, best practices and measurement metrics do not necessarily apply to all ports. Ports that have adopted standards usually use ISO 14000, EMAS or CSR standards. In addition, many ports have developed best practices in their operations.
Yet it should be noted that not all
standards are applicable in every port; there are differences in the ports’ sizes and types of operations, which in some cases affect the implementation and accreditation of standards. Implementation and accreditation might also be expensive and small ports do not have enough recourse to do that. In addition to standards, there are different kinds of benchmarking systems and performance measurement instruments that have been developed so that organizations can assess their operations, find the issues that should be developed and compare their performance with other organizations. Yet, it is rare that a benchmarking or performance measurement instrument is completely applicable to all organizations of the same field, regardless of their sizes or types of operation. In this study we aim to develop a framework for assessing the ports’ level of environmental performance and efficiency that would be applicable to all ports.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This study consists of a literature review and interview study. During the literature review, different kinds of standards, measurement systems and benchmarking that are used in different industry field are studied. After that, the features of the standards, benchmarking and measurement systems that are applicable also in assessing ports’ environmental performance are further developed to suit for the purpose of the developed classification framework. In addition, an interview study will be conducted. In the interviews, relevant personnel from ports and port related operators will be interviewed in semi-structured interviews that have features from both, structured and unstructured interviews. The interviews will be constructed around the interview themes based on the research questions and do not concentrate strictly on a defined list of questions. Instead, the interviews will be based on discussion, which will allow the concentration on issues that were considered significant by the interviewee, which is not necessarily possible in a structured interview. Furthermore, the semi-structural manner of interviewing allows the interviewer to produce additional questions outside the original plan or list of questions. The interviews will audio-taped and additional notes will be written during the interviews. An adaptation of qualitative content analysis will be used as the analysis method for the interview
study. The interviews will be transcribed and thematically organized. After that, the interview data will be transferred into an Excel worksheet, in which the data will be organized into a matrix. The columns will be comprised of interview themes and related questions. The rows consisted of the answers of each interviewed person. The purpose of the matrix is to facilitate the examination of the data. (Expected) Findings/Results ‘The expected result of the study is the development of a draft of the classification framework for assessing ports’ environmental effectiveness. The framework will indicate the environmental status of the ports and can be used practically in all ports regardless of their sizes and types of operations. In future studies, the draft framework may be tested in ports. Research limitations There is a risk that the authors do not get enough interviews in order to form a generalizable view of the situation. Thus, the interview data sample might be too subjective for creating the framework. In addition, it is important to remember that an interview always provides the interviewee’s subjective perspective on issues. For instance, the prevailing situational conditions, the interviewees’ mood and their experiences can impact the interviews’ outcome. In addition, the interviewer's manner of asking questions or participating in the discussion with the interviewee can impact the outcome. The thematic interview method also has some weaknesses which are related to the analysis of the gathered data and the interview situations. When the interviewees are using their own words, it can be difficult to interpret the answers. The researcher’s preunderstanding, which can be biased, can affect the interviewer’s views on what he considers important enough to make notes of. Keywords: Ports, Environmental impacts, Measurement system, Benchmarking.
