Yusuke Suemune of Japan’s Ports and Harbours Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) today outlined in detail his Government’s plans to achieve carbon net zero by 2050 at all Japanese ports via its Carbon Neutral Ports (CNP) initiative backed by a CNP certification process.                                                                    

The presentation given today in Barcelona as part of the ICHCA AGM contained the announcement of MLIT’s launch in June of its Carbon Neutral Ports (CNP) Certification for container terminals. The Certification process will evaluate each terminal’s decarbonization efforts.  Critically this assessment will be on a ‘per-terminal’ rather than a ‘per-port’ basis. The Certification will be multi-faceted.  Each element geared toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. 

As Suemune outlined, the process of decarbonization will involve evaluation of a wide variety of stratagems including low-emission handling equipment and LED lighting on the terminal operation side and efforts concerning carriers, such as zero emission vessel fuels and truck appointment systems.

“The evaluation will be performed at multiple certification levels from Level 1 to Level 5,” explained Suemune.  “Should the detailed and stringent requirements of each level be achieved then Certification will be granted for three years, after which the terminal will need to reapply.  Thus ensuring that decarbonization efforts are maintained.  We believe port decarbonization cannot be achieved in a single step, nor in the short-term; rather a long-term perspective must be pursued.”

In welcoming the MLIT initiative, Richard Steele, CEO of ICHCA commented, “We are both honoured and delighted that MLIT through their representative Yusuke Suemune has chosen the ICHCA forum to announce the CNP Certification initiative.  Environmental care is at the forefront of ICHCA’s mission and the efforts of such influential members such as the Japanese Government’s MLIT is a great example of how the cargo industry can deliver on that commitment.”

In addition, the results of the evaluation process will be visible to all port users, as they too are encouraged to contribute to the carbon zero target by 2050.  By initiating the CNP Certification, Ports and Harbours Bureau of MLIT is determined to objectively assess the status of decarbonization plans across all ports in the country on the basis of common and well defined criteria.

Yusuke Suemune’s presentation can be viewed in full HERE

Source, ICHCA International