12.04.07
FURTHER RECOGNITION FOR HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AT
ABERDEEN HARBOUR
Aberdeen Harbour Board have achieved an important double in international recognition for the high environmental standards maintained in operating the busy port.
The award of a new Ecoports certificate confirms that Aberdeen ’s Port Environmental Review System (PERS) has been reviewed by Lloyds Register, Rotterdam , and meets the standards defined by the EcoPorts Foundation.
Aberdeen was the first Scottish port and the fourth in Europe to receive the original certification and the ranking has been repeated in the recertification which is required every two years.
The certificate was presented by David Whitehead , Director of the British Ports Association and a Board member of the Ecoports Foundation, to Patrick Jordan,
the Harbour Board’s Environmental Advisor.
Eighteen certificates have been awarded so far to UK ports. David Whitehead said: “It is great to see the UK using the scheme so positively. When we started we never knew how high up the political agenda the environment would climb. Ecoports provides a proven way of facing up to the challenge.”
Participating ports have found that the process of Self Diagnosis Methodology (SDM) – designed to produce an audit of a port’s environmental strengths and weaknesses – and PERS have created great benefits, both internally and externally.
Patrick Jordan commented: “There is a lot of good work out there, but something that is often lost is how this is demonstrated. The SDM process has given us a benchmark against which we can assess progress and it backs up Aberdeen ’s
full scale monitoring programme and our commitment to high standards.”
/Ends
Notes to Editors:
EcoPorts Foundation (EPF) is a non profit organisation established in 1999 by
a group of 8 large European ports for the benefit of ports and port communities.
The primary purpose of EPF today is to provide the EcoPorts Network Platform.
This enables European Port Communities to exchange environmentally effective solutions, and work together in collaborative projects addressing sustainability issues in ports and the logistic chain. The EcoPorts Foundation has developed several tools that are now seen as a European standard.
The Port Environmental Review System (PERS) is primarily designed to assist ports to implement the recommendations set in the ESPO Environmental Review of 2001 and reinforced in the new ESPO Environmental Code of Practice (2003). PERS is based on internationally recognised professional best practice, and yet, remains a port-specific system developed by ports – for ports. It is formulated to be flexible
and capable of evolution so that it can be adapted to future changes in legislation and priorities for action.
Photograph shows David Whitehead (left), Director of the British Ports Association and a Board member of the Ecoports Foundation, and Patrick Jordan, Aberdeen Harbour Board’s Environmental Advisor.
12 April 2007
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