The Vietnam Maritime Administration is collecting comments on the draft basic standard on green port criteria to apply to seaports in Vietnam.
How does the world make a green port?
Towards the goal of sustainable development, the Port Authority of New South Wales has issued green port guidelines for port businesses to implement.
This guide identifies 10 key environmental issues of concern including: Material selection; Waste management; Energy use; Water consumption; Carriage; Environmental Management; Land use; Water quality; Emissions; Indoor environment. Each issue comes with multiple objectives in the form of criteria to be considered.
Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has its own plan when implementing the green port award. APEC sets out standards and has criteria and scales for seaports to apply and self-score.
Specifically, APEC sets out the criteria for Clean Energy (using renewable energy, LNG, shore power); Energy saving (Using energy-saving equipment and technology, optimizing power supply system); Environmental protection (Air pollution prevention, Noise control, waste treatment); Green Management (Green Environmental Management System, Green Performance Assessment).
It can be seen that each region, each country and association has its own criteria in developing green ports. However, in order to implement models with these criteria, there is a process and a roadmap.
After 15 years of implementing the roadmap to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, Long Beach (USA) is one of the famous green ports. According to the report on the green port construction roadmap, local leaders and leaders of Long Beach port have set out a Green Port policy with 5 principles: Protecting the community from harmful impacts on the environment due to the operation of the port. of the port; The port is a leader in environmental compliance and management; Promoting sustainability; Use the best technology available to avoid or reduce the impact on the environment; Community education.
The Port of Long Beach also drastically does not use diesel-powered cargo trucks, cranes, and ships entering the port to use clean energy… The port also has regulations that require at least half of container ships to run on electricity. shore at the wharf.
What did Vietnam learn?
In Vietnam, the Vietnam Maritime Administration is collecting comments for a draft of the basic standard on green port criteria to be applied to seaports in Vietnam.
A representative of the Vietnam Maritime Administration said that the standards set forth were referenced from the Implementation Plan for the green port award system – APSN 2020 Secretariat, Green Port Guidelines of the Port Authority of New South Wales 2000 and guidelines. of the European Seaport Organization 2021.
“These guidelines relate to Asia, the Pacific region and the economies of countries in the region are similar.
Vietnam has to learn a lot from other countries’ experience in port management, automation, energy saving, clean energy, and information technology application,” said a representative of the Vietnam Maritime Administration. and emphasize: The scoring method for green port criteria is based on the way of APEC.
However, Vietnam’s seaport enterprises currently do not have enough resources to immediately meet the international green port criteria. Therefore, the development of basic standards on green port criteria must also be based on the characteristics of seaport operations, the current operating status and the provisions of law for Vietnam’s seaports.
Specifically, the criteria developed by Vietnam focus a lot on environmental criteria, prevention and response to environmental incidents, requirements on energy use are integrated into other criteria. Includes: Commitment and readiness (Green port awareness and readiness; Green port promotion); Action and implementation (Clean energy; Energy saving; IT application; Resource use; Environmental protection; Green management); Efficiency and efficiency (Energy saving; Environmental protection).
According to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, these criteria are consistent with the capacity of Vietnam’s seaport enterprises, as well as with international development and with Vietnam’s commitment at the Summit on Climate Change. 26th United Nations (COP26).
At the same time, the Vietnam Maritime Administration also expressed its desire to receive the attention and comments on the draft to contribute to the development of a blue sea economy and a green navigation in line with the development and operation trend of the port. sea of the world.
Previously, the Ministry of Transport approved the green port development project in Vietnam on October 29, 2020, and the Vietnam Maritime Administration issued the implementation plan of the green port development project in Vietnam.
According to the roadmap in the project, from 2023, the green port model at some Vietnamese seaports will begin to be piloted and evaluated. In the period of 2023-2025, the study and proposal for amendments and supplements to regulations related to planning management, investment, construction of seaports, conditions for business and exploitation of seaports will be in line with the standards. Even on green ports in Vietnam will also be implemented.
In addition, the period 2021-2025 will study and propose mechanisms and policies to support businesses to implement the green port development process. At the same time, research, application and transfer of clean and environmentally friendly technologies in seaport operations.
By the period 2025-2030, national technical standards on green port criteria will be developed and promulgated. The implementation of voluntary application of green port criteria in Vietnam, progressing to the proposal to develop and promulgate regulations on compulsory application of green port criteria for Vietnam’s seaport system.
After 2030, the green port criteria in planning, investment, construction and operation of seaports in Vietnam will be applied compulsorily.
