In the below piece, MD of Portwise and globally renowned port and terminal operations expert Dr Yvo Saanen, along with colleague Mieke Staal, also of Portwise, offer valuable insights in creating safer, greener and cleaner terminal operations.
Transportation is one of the world's largest contributors to global emissions, and henceforth, to climate change too. Since the introduction of the container, global trade has seen unprecedented growth, fostered by ever-decreasing costs. At the tip of our fingers, the global shopping window is exposing itself to the global consumer. Digital forms of shopping facilitated by a growing global supply chain have created a market for buyers and sellers like we have never seen before.
This newfound phenomenon has brought unparalleled prosperity to the world. Despite the many crises the world's politicians have at hand, the global economy keeps growing and will continue to do so. With another 6 billion people who have wealth levels well below the developed countries, there are enough prospects for the global sellers of more and less useful products.
While people in developed countries keep spending a lesser percentage of their disposable income on 'products' in favour of services, this is a long way out to the majority of the world's population. But as the world's wealth and levels of civilisation keep rising, an increasing number of products will be purchased, awaiting transportation.
Although transportation is getting more and more efficient, we still have a long way to go until our global supply chain is sustainable, or in more fashionable terms, 'carbon neutral'. As long as we have giant ocean steamers burning some of the dirtiest fuels in the world, there is work to do, which starts in ports.
Sustainable Change