PPA prioritizes green initiatives to boost sustainable port operations

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is taking more advanced climate change mitigation initiatives after a series of successful measures were implemented for the past 5 years.

The move aims to also complement the initiatives being undertaken by PPA’s international partners like shipping lines to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by ships as well as port equipment to a more manageable level.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said that the port authority has already laid down the foundation and is now preparing the agency to implement more advanced Climate Change mitigation measures.

“We are now shifting our focus towards sustainable port operations to reduce our carbon footprint similar to the initiatives being undertaken by our foreign counterparts,” Santiago noted.

Among the steps undertaken by the PPA since 2016 include the adoption of a 25-year Port Development Roadmap in close coordination with all stakeholders like cargo-handling operators, and local and shipping line service providers as well as trucking operators. This is in consonance with the Ambisyon 2040 initiative of the National Government.

Furthermore, earlier this year, the port banned the use of single-use plastics in all its controlled ports nationwide. The initiative continued this year by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines to reduce plastic wastes initially involving three ports, Manila North Harbor, Batangas Port, and the Cagayan de Oro port.

This project is set to be launched within the first quarter of 2022, according to the PPA.

“We want to duplicate the initiatives of our CDO and Batangas port with the remaining ports under our network,” Santiago concluded.