2021 World Ports Sustainability Award submissions grows IAPH database to well over two hundred projects

Winners in seven categories to be announced at upcoming IAPH 2021 World Ports Conference following public vote

IAPH announces that it has received 64 projects submitted by 37 member ports from 21 countries as entries for the 2021 World Ports Sustainability Awards this year, bringing the overall project portfolio on the WPSP database to well over 200. The projects are described and illustrated in detail on IAPH’s dedicated portal sustainableworldports.org.

“We are delighted with the response from our membership and their project partners for this year’s Awards” commented IAPH Technical Director Dr. Antonis Michail. “This year the diversity of the projects covers a much wider spectrum of the areas of interest of our Program. In addition to the categories of Climate & Energy and Governance & Ethics, we have added ‘health’ to the Safety and Security category given the high number of entries from ports with innovations which responded to the COVID19 pandemic.”

In addition, two joint awards will be decided upon in the Resilient Infrastructure category, one for the multitude of digital projects submitted and another for physical infrastructure. As with last year, two joint awards will also be made in the Community Outreach category, one for projects that have an emphasis on social benefits and another for projects having a positive impact on the environment.

Jury deliberates prior to public vote

The judging panel (Top left to bottom right) : Jan Hoffman, Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Geraldine Knatz, Gerald Munjanganja, Namrata Nadkarni and Henri van der Weide

The independent jury of experts is now analysing the candidate long list of projects with the aim of whittling the selection down to three finalists for each of the seven awards. Jury members are :

Jan Hoffman, Chief, Trade Logistics Branch, DTL – UNCTAD

Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry – President of the World Maritime University

Geraldine Knatz – Professor of the Practice of Policy and Engineering, University of Southern California

Gerald Munjanganja – Line Manager, Seatrade

Namrata Nadkarni – CEO and Founder – Intent Communications

Henri van der Weide – Policy Advisor – Port of Amsterdam and IAPH Council Member

Thanking the jury for their efforts, IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven commented: “The response from IAPH members and the diversity of projects submitted gives further impetus to our World Ports Sustainability Program. WPSP was established nearly three years ago to achieve the aim of sharing best practices on how ports apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals in practice. We are now taking this to the next level with the upcoming release of our educational Port Endeavor game for ports and port communities using these projects as examples. Having a continuous stream of new projects will further enrich the content of Port Endeavor as we roll the game out online and hopefully in person at ports across the world with strategic partners.”

The Awards finalists are scheduled to be announced on 14th May to enable the public to vote for their favourite choices on the WPSP website which will contribute to the overall decision on the winners.

Following this public vote, the WPSP Award winners for 2021 will be exclusively announced to delegates of the #IAPH2021 World Ports Conference at a gala online event on Thursday 24th June hosted by Francesca Vanthielen.

Registration for the #IAPH2021 World Ports Conference is now open, with well over two hundred delegates already signed up. For an overview of the maritime industry leaders already confirmed as speakers, including the recently-announced participation of Rodolphe Saadé , CEO of CMA-CGM, visit the IAPH 2021 World Port Conference website.

Story contact : Victor Shieh – IAPH Communications Director

Email : victor.shieh@iaphworldports.org

Tel : + 32 473 980 855

About IAPH

Founded in 1955, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) is a non-profit-making global alliance of 170 ports and 140 port-related organisations covering 90 countries. Its member ports handle more than 60 percent of global maritime trade and around 80 percent of world container traffic. IAPH has consultative NGO status with several United Nations agencies, including the IMO. Through its knowledge base and access to regulatory bodies, IAPH aims to facilitate energy transition, accelerate digitalization and assist in improving overall resilience of its member ports in a constantly changing world. In 2018, IAPH established the World Ports Sustainability Program (WPSP). Guided by the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, it aims to unite sustainability efforts of ports worldwide by sharing best practices through its project portfolio and collaborative partnerships.