The IAPH Climate and Energy Committee met virtually on 5 October. The meeting, which was well attended by over thirty participants, concluded the autumn round of meetings of the three main IAPH technical committees. A new format, which devotes more time for in-depth discussions and exchange between members on a limited number of key selected topics was successfully tested across the three committees. The main agenda item of the Climate and Energy Committee was the joint development by IAPH and the World Ports Climate Action Program (WPCAP) of a tool to self-evaluate, develop and communicate the readiness of world ports to provide low- and zero-carbon fuels to shipping, the so-called ‘Port Readiness Level for Clean Marine Fuel Bunkering’ project (PRL MF). Following a presentation on the current status of the PRL MF checklist, committee members endorsed the checklist in principle while acknowledging that it will be further developed, integrating port users’ experience and respective lessons learned. Regarding follow-up steps, the committee recommended working closely with WPCAP and any third partes, in defining a suitable governance and business development model for the full roll-out of the PRL MF toolkit to the world ports community. Other topics discussed included progress with the development of ESI version 2.0 which is expected to become operational by January 2025, and the initial launch of the embedded ESI-at-berth module that is now open for registration by cruise ports and lines via the current ESI website. In addition, the committee discussed the collaborative initiative led by APM Terminals to achieve cost parity for battery-electric container handling equipment. A respective white paper will be launched at the end of October and interested ports were encouraged to follow-up with APM Terminals to endorse it. The initiative will be further discussed in a dedicated session at the forthcoming World Ports Conference in Abu Dhabi. The next meeting of the Climate and Energy Committee will be taking place early January and focus on discussing the IAPH input to the next session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81), which will be held from 18 to 22 March next year.
