The Environment
Ports, necessarily, are located in estuaries or on the coast, often in areas of special scientific interest, outstanding natural beauty or environmental sensitivity. Ports are keenly aware of their environmental responsibilities and performance, and go to great lengths to ensure that their activities inflict as little damage as possible on the environment. Where impact on the environment is inevitable or inescapable, mitigating or compensatory measures are put in place, often at considerable cost to the port. However, there will inevitably be tensions, from time to time, between the need for conservation and the need for economic development.
Significant changes to environmental regulation are now taking place in the UK and the European Union. In Europe, new legislative has recently been agreed on the regulation of hazardous substances in water and the system for classifying ships’ waste and dredged materials. In the UK, a draft Marine Bill has been published, bringing in a new system of marine spatial planning and designed to reduce the bureaucracy surrounding marine development. UKMPG is actively involved in these discussions, pressing for a good balance to be struck between protecting and improving the environment and making it easier for ports to bring forward new developments which respect the environment.
