Ports of Auckland has become the first port in New Zealand to become CEMARS certified and there are more initiatives to come.
Ports of Auckland has an ambitious goal to become a zero emissions port by 2040. It has recently completed the first step toward that goal by accurately measuring its emissions and developing a plan to reduce them.
To achieve this Ports of Auackland partnered with Enviro-Mark Solutions and is using the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (CEMARS) to measure and manage its greenhouse gas emissions. It is the first port in New Zealand to become a CEMARS certified organisation.
The port has measured the direct and indirect emissions associated with its business and those of its subsidiaries (diesel and electricity usage, air travel etc). It has not yet measured emissions produced by third parties over which it has no control - for example the ships, trucks and trains which come to the port. These will be included at a later stage.
In the 2017 financial year Ports of Auckland generated 16,208.47 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). To reduce that total it has created an Emissions Management & Reduction Plan which sets out the projects and interim targets that will enable the delivery of the long term goal of a zero emissions port by 2040.
Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson said “This is a big step for us. It is easy to set goals, but another thing to actually start delivering. We are now in a position to deliver. We know the scale of the challenge and we have a clear plan and achievable milestones to tackle it.”
“This is the first initiative of many and we look forward to announcing more work in this area in the near future.”