EU Ports Achieve Environmental Certification
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Sunday, June 4, 2017
The Port of Barcelona (Spain), Port Authority of Melilla (Spain), Niedersachsen Ports Emden (Germany), Shannon Foynes Ports Company (Ireland) and Shoreham Port Authority (U.K.) have achieved Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification, announced the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO).
PERS, the port sector specific environmental management standard, is the flagship product of the EcoPorts network and is offered as part of the ESPO services to its members through the EcoPorts website.
Compliance with the PERS standard is independently assessed by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance and the certificate has a validity of two years. There are 25 ports in Europe and its neighboring countries currently certified by PERS.
ESPO Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Chairman, Eamonn O’Reilly, and Sotiris Raptis, EcoPorts coordinator, handed over the PERS certificates to the ports’ representatives during the ESPO Conference dinner, which took place at Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, Spain.
“The number of ports under the EcoPorts network certified with the PERS standard has recently risen to 28 members. This marks the anniversary of 20 years of EcoPorts and further strengthens the network whose primary objective is to assist more European ports to protect the environment, improve public health and address the challenges of climate change”said Sotiris Raptis, EcoPorts coordinator and senior advisor for environment at ESPO.