Le Havre Incentivizes Environmentally Friendly Shipping
In the continuation of the actions implemented in favour of the environment, the Management Board of the Grand Port Maritime du Havre has decided to reward, in 2012, the shipping companies which operate clean ships in Le Havre.
From January 1st, 2012, the possibility will be provided to the 10 cleanest container or Ro-Ro shipping lines, as regards the reduction of their ship emissions in the air, to be granted an « environmental reward » making it possible for them to reduce their port dues on ships by up to 10 % maximum, according to the conditions set up in Le Havre.
Supporting the ESI (Environmental Ship Index) promoting « clean shipping » was obvious for the Port of Le Havre. As a signing party for the World Port Climate Initiative charter, the port of Le Havre has indeed contributed from the start to the definition of the ESI, the environmental index which gives a score to vessels. Within this scope, the Port of Le Havre commits itself, as a trial for 2012, to support the development of « green » calls, rewarding the shipping companies whose vessels (containerships and ro-ro ships) emit fewer pollutants and less CO² than laid down in the standards in force. The amount of this incentive can reach up to the equivalent of 10 % of port dues. In order to be able to participate in this action, shipping lines will have to comply with the conditions required by the ESI (calculation of the ship score…) and with the incentive framework set up by the GPMH.
For about twenty years now, the Le Havre port authority has voluntarily started action in favour of the respect and safeguarding of the environment and of sustainable development of its area. This action also covers both port development, the management of natural areas and species protection or the development of mass transport modes. For air quality, this action concretized in:
- signing the « World Port Climate Initiative » international charter, together with 54 ports, in July 2008 in favour of a better air quality,
- agreeing to the joint commitments contained in the « Plan Energie Climat territorial de l’agglomération Havraise » (Le Havre region Energy and Climate Plan) in September 2011,
- priority for mass transport with an expected doubling of the rail + waterway modal share by 2020. The coming-on-stream of a multimodal terminal in 2014 will contribute to meeting this objective,
- reducing our impacts on the environment with especially an objective of reducing our greenhouse effect gas emissions by 3% per year, in the spirit of the ‘Grenelle’ environment forum.