Port Authority of New South Wales: Leading the energy transition in Australian port cities

Sydney Harbour whale migration ©Port Authority of New South Wales The Port Authority of New South Wales, who manages the navigation, security and operational safety needs of commercial shipping in the various ports of New South Wales, has taken key actions to reduce their emissions and accelerate their energy transition. Ryan Bennett, Senior Manager Planning & Sustainability, shares with us the advances in adjusting the Port Authority of New South Wales to their carbon emission reduction targets and the Net Zero targets. He also informs us that the Port Authority of NSW will be installing and supplying shore power for ships at all 5 major commercial berths at Bays Port in Sydney Harbour, which is a world-first for a dry-bulk precinct and a first in the Southern Hemisphere for a cruise terminal. Ryan Bennett, Senior Manager Planning & Sustainability, Port Authority of New South Wales ©Port Authority of New South Wales Port Authority of New South Wales is a member of the AIVP since 2019. AIVP - The world is in a race against climate change. Reducing emissions and accelerating the energy transition are key actions as we will see in the next AIVP World Conference. You recently announced the Net Zero Commitments, an ambitious plan to drastically reduce your emissions in the coming years. Could you explain to us the main elements of this plan, its motivation and its importance in the global and Australian context? Port Authority of New South Wales manages the navigation, security and operational safety needs of commercial shipping at the designated ports in NSW (Sydney Harbour, Port Botany, Newcastle Harbour, Port Kembla, Eden and Yamba). Port Authority also owns the port land at Glebe Island and White Bay in Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour’s two cruise ship facilities and manages and operates land within the regional ports of Eden and Yamba. In 2020, Port Authority developed a sustainability plan, creating a framework for embedding sustainable practices and initiatives within our operations. It gives us a guide to how we can become more sustainable and provides a scalable operating model for defining, developing and delivering consistent and structured sustainability initiatives. Our first key sustainability initiative to be developed has been our Net Zero targets and roadmap. The key elements of Port Authority’s Net Zero commitments are included below. The key motivations that drove our consideration of carbon emission reduction targets and the endorsement of our Net Zero targets were: Act proactively to address climate change to help future-proof our organisation, community and operations Demonstrate leadership within the sector, including the critically important international shipping sector, and joining a select few port organisations nationally and regionally to have set a net zero target Play an active role in the required cooperation between ports and shipping to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships Join the groundswell of corporate and government entities making net-zero commitments Build community and stakeholder trust and respect for setting meaningful targets and following through with meaningful action Drive innovation within the organisation Improve staff retention and attraction Save resources through implementation of efficiencies Roadmap to Net Zero ©Port…