Alappuzha (India) lost its status as a major port city with the development of the modern port of Kochi. However, the district in which the abandoned port buildings and warehouses are located is set for a new lease of life. A government-funded contemporary art festival held every two years between 10 March and 31 May will host a programme of cultural events, conferences, exhibitions and works by 267 artists from all over the world, who will take up temporary residence in the port district. The move represents the first step in the area’s radical culture-driven transformation.

The Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has recently selected a contractor to develop the public spaces and a beach on the Valleseco site. For the port’s President, the move is a fine example of the policy adopted several years ago, designed to foster closer links between the city and the port. In Las Palmas the recently opened footpath connecting Sanapu dock with the port marketplace and the city is another symbol of this integration policy. A new park is also set to be created near the aquarium.

Port of Brussels (Belgium) joins BACA, The Belgian Alliance for Climate Action. The BACA is a recent creation of the Belgian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the non-profit The Shift, including 53 Belgian organisations (public and private, including also the port of Antwerp), pledging to align their activities with the Paris Agreement’s objectives of limiting global warming. The Port of Brussels (Belgium) is certified zero-emission C02 for its buildings with no less than 13,000 photovoltaic panels throughout the port area. The port of Antwerp (Belgium) recently started the merging process with the port of Zeebrugge (Belgium) to create a new Green Energy Hub.

The Port of Vancouver has developed since 2008 the Truck Licensing System, with stringer environmental requirements to reduce polluting emissions. Gradually, these environmental requirements have been updated, concerning emission control devices and the age of the truck. Next year, in 2022, The port will increase the environmental demands will be even stricter, since trucks older than 10 years will not be allowed in the port. In late 2020, the port implemented the Clean Trucking Initiative to help trucking companies to get familiarized with the technical solutions to meet the new requirements.

From Rome to New Delhi, large cities often lie on major rivers. This lifeline provides a source of water, allows people to wash clothes, move around, and transport resources. There are necessarily two aspects to any asset of this kind: the need to use it, and the need to preserve it. From 2021, the Egyptian government is introducing a conservation policy for the Nile, that most prestigious of rivers, strictly regulating the drawing of water and banning activities that harm biodiversity, except with special dispensation. These restrictions are essential for supporting the use of rivers as a fast, environmentally-friendly means of transport. By 2030, canal and river-based transport networks will be deployed in major Indian cities such as Mumbai, Cochin, and Goa. The Yamuna, the Ganges or the Indus will be used to move goods with a smaller environmental footprint than if they were shipped by road. Incentivising tariffs can also help, such as the environmental bonus granted to Swedish companies that abandon road haulage in favour of river and sea shipping in Stockholm (Sweden).