To mark Pride month in the United States, some ports opted to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ cause. The ports of Seattle and Houston (USA) showcased the history of the Pride movement and invited their LGBTQIA+ workers to express their views in dedicated articles. In Europe, the port of Dublin (Ireland) painted a rainbow fresco called “Pride at the Port” on the Great South Wall to mark the Pride Festival 2022 from 22-28 June. Shows of solidarity will continue with the Amsterdam Pride (Netherlands) from 30 July to 7 August. The famous Canal Parade will take place in the city on 6 August.

The Word Trade Organization has agreed on a deal to curb harmful subsidies. The agreement bans subsidies for operators engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and curbs funding supporting exploitation of overfished stocks. It establishes transparency and obliges governments to report subsidies granted to their fleets and fishing operators. To this end, the WTO also created a permanent Committee on Fisheries Subsidies.

Fisheries was also a main topic of the recent UN Ocean Conference, which the AIVP attended. Discussions varied between women’s participation to the improvement of transparency in fisheries management. However, 30 international artisanal fishing organizations who attended stated that they needed to be included in the debate as the discussions directly or indirectly affects 500 million people.

The Oakland Bay Area Commission has given the green light to the City of Oakland. After years of negotiations, the Commission has approved plans for a new baseball stadium and luxury residential units at Howard terminal. In reaching its decision, the Commission evaluated the advantages and drawbacks of the project in terms of the port’s development. It concluded that the new infrastructures are compatible with the port’s future growth.

The Autonomous Port and the Provincial Council of Valencia have trained their technical staff to restructure the tourist offering in the Valencian area. For some years now, the Port of Valencia has seen its infrastructures stretched to their limit and is no longer able to meet the rising demand of cruise tourists in terms of sustainability. During these events, technical staff highlighted the need to diversify local tourism products and services by promoting the cultural assets, landscape, and geography of each municipality and improving city-port links.

Production, storage, refuelling: these challenges await developers looking to biomethane as a low-carbon energy source. Real-life cases are now emerging, to show the feasibility and the benefits of biogas. The production and centralisation of organic waste or wood residue is facilitated at ports, which are logistical hubs. That is why CMA-CGM and the Port of Le Havre (HAROPA PORT) (France) are working on the 150 million euro “Salamander” project, aimed at building a biomethane plant by 2026. The challenges of storing and refuelling with biomethane safely are vitally important. Methane leaks are harmful to the environment, and when mixed with other substances (such as hydrogen) they can pose a human health hazard. To address this, the Republic of Singapore and the Port of Singapore, along with MOL and TotalEnergies, have adopted secure refuelling for Ro-Ro vessels. Biomethane could cut these ships’ greenhouse gas emissions by 17%.