PortsAustralia has joined the American Association of Port Authorities virtual Energy & Environment Seminar & Expo to share knowledge on sustainability planning and how the Port Sustainability Strategy Development Guide (PSSDG) was created.
CEO, Mike Gallacher was joined by Ports Australia’s Sustainability Working Group’s Chair and NQBP’s Senior Manager Sustainability and Environment, Simona Trimarchi to provide a 30 minute presentation on the ethos of sustainability, its relevance for ports, and why this made the PSSDG essential.
Mike and Simona highlighted to the foreign audience how diverse the environments in which Australian ports operate and why that meant a how-to guide on sustainability planning had to be adaptable.
During a live Q&A session, the panel and audience took an interest in Ports Australia’s past work looking at sustainability, questioning the intention behind the Sustainability Hub. Mike and Simona explained how it not only showcases the important work Australian ports are putting in for the future but how it acts as a device for knowledge sharing between ports, locally and abroad.
Simona shared her take on the purpose and value behind the PSSDG for aport planning its sustainability journey, which was to acknowledge the work already being done, identifying any gaps, and mapping a pathway forward which acounts for everything and everyone the port interacts with.
Mike said fostering strong relationships with other member associations internationally is an important vessel for collaboration and communication.
There’s plenty we can learn from our international partners, just as there’s plenty they can learn from us.
Making the effort to encourage that exchange of information is making the effort to future proof our industry with the power of knowledge, which is what sustainability’s all about, Mike said.
