This month, the Galveston Wharves became only the second port in Texas to become certified to participate in Green Marine, the voluntary environmental program for the North American marine industry. Certification demonstrates a long-term commitment by our board and staff to work to continuously improve our environmental performance.
To be clear, Green Marine is not window dressing. It’s a rigorous, transparent process designed to implement environmental programs, transparently measure progress and share best practices.
There are 154 participants throughout Canada and the United States. These ship owners, port authorities, seaway administrators, terminal operators and shipyard managers assess their environmental performance on a yearly basis.
Participants agree to have their results verified every other year by an independent verifier accredited by Green Marine. All participants’ results for each applicable indicator are posted publicly on the Green Marine website. Their achievement on a scale of Levels 1 to 5, with 5 being the top, is determined based on detailed criteria defined for 14 performance indicators, a most comprehensive scope to benchmark sustainability.
CERTIFICATION IS EARNED, NOT GIVEN
The port staff began more than a year ago to complete a five-step certification process that included self-evaluation based on Green Marine criteria, external verification, publication of results, continuous improvement and, finally, certification.
As part of our certification, port staff benchmarked our environmental performance in waste management and completed the self-evaluation guide. Results were confirmed by an accredited external verifier in spring 2021, and we were awarded certification June 3.
Waste management is one of eight areas of performance specifically for ports. Others include community impacts, underwater noise and greenhouse gases. These performance areas will guide our environmental policies and practices moving forward.
Participating in Green Marine will help us identify and implement best practices, manage our environmental programs, measure our progress and strive for continuous improvement. Sharing new technologies and best practices with other Green Marine members is another benefit that we’ll tap into. We also commit to comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
GREEN MARINE 2020 RESULTS SHOW PROGRESS
Green Marine recently reported compiled results from participant activities in 2020.
The greatest overall improvement has been in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ship owners, ports and terminals contributed a net 14 level improvement, and two-thirds of all participants calculated their greenhouse gas emissions footprint for 2020.
Significant progress also has been made toward reducing underwater noise. Almost a third of applicable ship owners have installed quieting technologies on new and/or retrofitted vessels since this indicator was introduced in 2018.
More than one-quarter of ports and terminals reached top-level performance in spill prevention and stormwater management due in good part to significant infrastructure updates, as well as more stringent regulations in a number of jurisdictions, according to the Green Marine report. Read the report and more about Green Marine at green-marine.org.
A GREEN FUTURE
It’s the perfect time for us to begin participating in Green Marine. As we continue to implement our 20-year Strategic Master Plan, we’ll look for ways to integrate sustainability practices in our waterfront maintenance and capital improvement projects.
Green Marine also encourages collaboration with governments, port tenants and citizen groups in implementing action plans and green initiatives. We’ll look forward to identifying more ways to partner with local entities.
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June 12, 2021 at 10:15AM
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Port's Green Marine certification isn't window dressing - Galveston County Daily News
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