Frequently asked questions

• A unique program designed for the marine industry – nothing like it in the world
• Addresses multiple environmental issues: land, air, water, biodiversity, and community
  relations
• Participating companies implement concrete actions, practices, and technologies
• Program participants include more than 175 shipping companies, port authorities,
  terminal operators, shipyards, and the St. Lawrence Seaway Corporations in Canada and
  the United States

• Industry relevance

It is a program applicable for ship owners, port authorities, Seaway corporations, terminal operators and shipyard managers

The performance indicators address priority environmental issues and community relations.

• Measuring and verification

Participants assess their environmental performance and take concrete actions.

External auditing ensures credibility and rigor to the program.

• Transparency

Access to all program requirements and public reporting of participants’ results contributes to high level of trust.

• Stakeholder participation

The program is developed in partnership with an inclusive and broad network of environmental groups, governmental agencies and academic experts.

Green Marine’s most important accomplishment was to bring about a culture of dialogue between the industry and its stakeholders on environmental issues

GM is not only a certification program. It is also a partnership initiative actively involving stakeholders. It offers a unique opportunity to companies and NGOs to talk to each other and work together.

When the program was first designed, the selection of the initial set of priority issues and program requirements was made by a committee of about 20 people, representing all sectors of the industry, governments, environmental groups and academia, and everything was adopted by consensus.

This initial committee became one of our three advisory committees. We have one in the St. Lawrence region, on in the Great Lakes and a last one on the West Coast.  These advisory committees represent the core mechanism of Green Marine, their role is to recommend program revisions to our Board of Directors.

By becoming Green Marine supporters, these environmental groups and government agencies encourage and support the sustainable development initiative undertaken by the marine industry. Green Marine’s relevance and credibility is reflected through the role they play shaping the environmental program.

SEE OUR SUPPORTERS →

For participants:

• Fee structure differs for ship owners (# vessels), ports & terminals (annual tonnage or revenues), shipyards (# of employees);
  See the fee schedule →

For partners :

• The fee schedule varies according to the number of employees (for companies with less than 50 employees and companies with 50 or more employees).
  See the fee schedule →

Green Marine's comprehensive program addresses priority environmental issues related to air, water and soil quality, and to community relations. Some performance indicators apply to ship owners, other ports, terminals, shipyards, and Seaway corporations.

Visit the performance indicators page for more information.

Performance is evaluated on a scale of 1 (Monitoring of regulations) to 5 (Excellence & Leadership):

• Level 1 : monitoring of regulations
• Level 2 : best practices
• Level 3 : integrated management and quantified impacts
• Level 4 : new technologies and reduction targets
• Level 5 : excellence and leadership

The certification process consists of:

1. Annual self-evaluation requiring CEO sign-off;
2. Agree to external audit every two years
3. Publication of individual results in Green Marine Annual Performance Report.
4. Demonstration of continual improvement

Visit the Certification Process page for more information.

The annual self-evaluation period is from January to mid-March;

The submission deadline is March 15th;

Certificates are handed out at GreenTech, Green Marine’s annual conference, in June of each year;

A new participant can decide to perform the self-evaluation upon joining or wait until the next round of evaluation.

External verification is mandatory every other year;

First certification will be achieved only after first external verification.

CEO leadership and commitment is at the core of Green Marine:

• Through the Board of Directors
• With the acknowledgement of the annual results