Quebec City, June 3, 2021 – Green Marine is pleased to present the latest steadfast results of participants in North America’s leading environmental certification program for the maritime industry.
“The commitment to continual improvement that our participants maintained despite the pandemic crisis in 2020 is admirable,” said David Bolduc, Green Marine’s executive director. “The fact that the overall results have remained steady is a remarkable outcome given not only the need to pivot regular operations to prioritize health and safety during the COVID-19 outbreak, but also in view of the program’s widening scope of issues and more stringent criteria for several performance indicators.”
Green Marine currently has 154 participants throughout Canada and the United States. All the ship owners, port authorities, Seaway administrators, terminal operators, and shipyard managers assess their environmental performance on a yearly basis. Participants agree to have their results verified every other year by an independent verifier accredited by Green Marine. All participants’ results for each applicable indicator are posted publicly on the Green Marine website. Their achievement on a scale of Levels 1-to-5 is determined based on the detailed criteria defined for 14 performance indicators, a most comprehensive scope to benchmark sustainability.
A total of 169 self-evaluations were submitted for 2020 operations with some participants assessing performance for more than one type of business or location and with 15 participants reporting for the first time. This represents a solid (6%) net increase from 2019. Overall, participants reported 982 performance indicators achieving an average of 2.9 out of the possible five levels, again consistent with recent years.
The greatest overall improvement has been in terms of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ship owners, ports, and terminals contributed a net 14 level improvement, and two-thirds (66%) of all participants calculated their GHG footprint for 2020.
Significant progress has also been made towards reducing underwater noise. Almost a third (31%) of applicable ship owners have installed quieting technologies on new and/or retrofitted vessels since this indicator was introduced in 2018.
A Level 5 performance by 28% of ports and terminals in terms of spill prevention and stormwater management is due in good part to significant infrastructure updates as well as more stringent regulations in a number of jurisdictions. The review and incremental revisions of this performance indicator’s criteria for 2021 is an example of how the program continues to challenge its participants beyond existing or imminent regulations by raising the bar!
The new ship recycling indicator that was added for the 2020 program exemplifies how the program continues to embrace greater sustainability. More than half of the ship owners voluntarily reported on this new indicator that becomes a compulsory element for 2021 reporting. Likewise, an indicator on community relations was added to the 2021 program for all landside participants on their efforts to engage in meaningful dialogue with neighbouring stakeholders.
The 2020 Annual Performance Report is posted online here.
See the Press release PDF version