Ports from around the world are planning to join the greenhouse gas (GHG) cutters club by implementing their own regulations such as charging higher docking fees to polluting ships.
Port representatives met last week at the C40 World Ports Climate Conference in Rotterdam and started planning on measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve air quality under the World Ports Climate Declaration.
According to a Wall Street Journal article, ships that use low-grade fuel belch out between 5% and 20% of the global GHG emissions.
Some of the initiatives floating around during the conference also include increasing the number of electric "plugs" availble for powering ships while in harbor; replacing the trucks that move containers within the port with hybrid vehicles; and develop their own carbon capture systems.
The Journal noted that Chinese ports representatives did not attend the meeting...because of budget reasons.
