More than forty IAPH members attended the Climate and Energy committee meeting held virtually on 16 January. The highlight of the agenda was the discussion over the current status and future development of the Port Readiness Levels for Marine Fuels (PRL-MF) assessment tool that has been jointly developed by the IAPH Clean Marine Fuels (CMF) working group and the World Ports Climate Action Program (WPCAP). In line with the outcomes of the recent dedicated survey, the committee gave overwhelming positive feedback for the development of a dynamic digital version of the tool that would offer assistance and further functionalities to port users. This course of action will now be followed by IAPH, WPCAP and partners in the coming weeks, while also defining the future governance of the PRL-MF tool. Member ports that still want to provide their feedback on PRL-MF can do so by completing the dedicated short survey by the end of January. On the IMO agenda, IMO technical officer Camille Bourgeon informed the committee on the latest submissions and expectations ahead of the forthcoming 81st meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81) in March and the preceding intersessional working group meeting on GHG emissions from ships. In addition, head of UNCTAD Trade Logistics Branch, Jan Hoffmann, discussed the progress with the ongoing assessment of the impact that the basket of measures currently being examined by IMO may be having on states highlighting the main areas of interest for ports that IAPH should be following. The committee was further informed on the launch of the Zero Emission Port Alliance at COP28, an initiative by APM Terminals and DP World, targeting primarily the electrification of container handling equipment in ports, and discussed the involvement of IAPH and individual ports in the alliance. Finally, members were presented with the latest updates on the IAPH projects and initiatives (CMF, ESI, CEM-Hubs) and discussed the Climate and Energy content of the forthcoming IAPH Technical Committee Days, which will be held in London from 25 to 27 March.
