With a view to demonstrating that ports can be developed on an environmentally responsible basis, the European Seaports Organisation (ESPO), the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), the Port of Antwerp, and Ocean Shipping Consultants are supporting a forum where the economic, legislative, regulatory and operational issues of port development can be debated.

GreenPort 2006 will convene at the Hilton International Hotel in Antwerp on 22/23 February 2006.

The two day conference will provide an in-depth analysis of the financial and social impact that ports have on the shipping business and on a region's economy and will review the repercussions caused by the blocking of port developments.

ESPO secretary general Patrick Verhoeven said, 'For ESPO the GreenPort conference is very timely. The implementation of environmental legislation in Europe has become a serious bottleneck for further port development and is frustrating wider environmental objectives, such as the modal shift from road to sea. There is an urgent need for new investments in European ports and for a better coordination of policies at EU level. The first GreenPort conference will be the ideal public forum to bring all know how and expertise gathered in the port sector together.'

Considerable success has been achieved by a number of ports in implementing successful environmental port expansion programmes, with notable examples being the ports of Antwerp and Amsterdam. Both of these will be reviewed in the conference programme. Operational issues such as dredging, pollution, emissions, noise control and energy management will be studied. The Port of Antwerp is also organising a half day technical visit to the newly developed Deurganckdok and its surrounding area, where delegates can view a project which acknowledged the environmental concerns of nature groups and the local population.