• Energy Research

No abstract. First para: The European Union (EU) has recently initiated the debate on its 2040 climate targets with the EU Commission’s proposal of a net 90% greenhouse gas emission reduction target relative to 1990 (EC 2024a). The EU Commission’s impact assessment indicates that carbon dioxide removals (CDR) will play an important role in the EU’s climate policy for 2040, on a path to EU’s climate neutrality target in 2050 (EC 2024b). The science behind CDR’s importance is clear: drastic and sustained emission reductions need to be supplemented with carbon dioxide (CO2) removals to meet the Paris Agreement objectives, and to reach the EU’s carbon neutrality target by 2050 (IPCC AR6, ESABCC 2023). The need for CDR in 1.5°C pathways reaching net-zero CO2 by 2050 globally is generally projected to be higher than 10 Gt CO2yr-1 removal in 2050 (Prütz et al. 2023). Despite this, emission reductions need to be prioritized as we cannot guarantee a temperature decline after an overshoot (Schleussner et al. 2023). One way to avoid mitigation deterrence is to create separate targets for emission reductions, permanent CDR, and the land use, land use-change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector for the EU 2040 climate framework (Reiner et al. 2021, NEGEM 2023).

This paper examines how European seaports aim to improve the sustainability of their operations. This examination is approached with a literature search on the sustainability targets of ports, especially in Europe, and by reviewing the webpages of the ten largest European container ports. Based on this literature search and webpage review, limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions seems to be a high priority in these ports. Limitation of CO2 emissions is further investigated in the light of the Port of Helsinki’s aim to become carbon neutral by 2035. Our analysis indicates that ports have a major role to play in the maritime transport sector’s efforts to improve sustainability. However, this will require clear targets as the timeframe is long. Otherwise, efforts risk being focused on actions that merely push the problem around, like moving CO2 emissions elsewhere or increasing other pollutants when CO2 is cut. Besides concentrating on the organization and operations of ports, balancing subsidies for cleaner vessels with extra charges for more polluting ones could help motivate shipping companies to purchase new, cleaner vessels or acquire technological solutions to mitigate the harmful effects of existing ones.