As an island nation, ports have long served as the backbone of the UK economy, with 95% of internationally traded goods coming through them, generating direct and indirect jobs for thousands of people. Despite this, ports have traditionally been overlooked when we talk about transport decarbonisation, with road and rail often taking centre stage.
In reality, ports are fast becoming one of the key hubs from which we can achieve green goals. Whether it's supporting offshore wind farms, hydrogen production or multimodal logistics, ports are becoming a key part of our net-zero future.
Historically, port infrastructure has focused on berthing capacity and customs clearance. However, ports are rapidly becoming multi-sector hubs. This includes assembly points for offshore wind turbines, specialist facilities for hydrogen import and export, holding points for zero-carbon fuels and logistics bases for battery supply
Ports like Teesport, Humber, Tyne and Aberdeen are already leading the way by supporting offshore wind farm developments in the North Sea, whilst others, like Port of Felixstowe and London Gateway are exploring rail freight expansion to reduce emissions. Turning this into a bigger national movement will take joined up thinking and Government policy overhaul but offers great potential to scale up the green benefits that ports can offer us.
With ports being largely private enterprises, they have the freedom to be responsive to market opportunities, but in balance have the pressure that investors need robust proposals that can show a firm return. In a world with ever increasing consenting delays, substantially changing government policy on energy and infrastructure strategy and spiralling materials and build costs, development projects can prove to be far from straight forward.
So, the Government's Freeports plan is a good step towards providing more certainty of vision, but port investors still need more clarity around regulations, state-funded logistics investment and how new and existing ports can function as part of the wider economic plan for the country.
The Government as well as the national assemblies and local authorities must work together and have a UK-wide strategy for port decarbonisation, led by the Department for Transport's Clean Maritime Plan. This could unlock private capital and take the risk out of investments in hydrogen terminals, alternative fuels, and an expansion of wind power facilities.
The shipping industry itself also faces mounting pressure to decarbonise, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) having committed itself to net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, "green corridors" based around net-zero emissions routes between major ports are now a part of national green economy plans.
Ports across the UK need to be ready for this. This will mean upgrades such as installing on-shore power infrastructure that allows vessels to shut down their engines whilst in port and putting in cleaner fuel sources such as hydrogen. It will also require rethinking all aspects of port operations to cut carbon emissions at every stage including cranes, on site transport and stand times.
Of course, crucially, decarbonisation does not stop at the port and should also include the supply chain on land. Freight transport needs to make more use of rail and canal, and ports must be designed as multimodal hubs to enable smooth transitions. Both the economic and environmental case for this movement is extremely strong but the infrastructure needs modernisation to make it possible.
The future of ports is also about real-time data across global supply chains. The Government's Maritime 2050 strategy calls for widespread digitalisation of cargo tracking and maintenance need, predicted by AI. Once AI is mature and reliable enough, all of this will help to make the sector more sustainable and efficient. However, adoption is slow, especially in smaller ports where the costs still outweigh the benefits.
Digitalisation will also support climate resilience, with ports needing to adapt to rising sea levels, extreme weather, and supply chain issues from across the world. Embedding resilience into masterplans, designs and operational models will be critical.
The UK has a fantastic opportunity to lead in sustainable port development. As a country we have a great maritime history, geographic advantage, and industrial base. But the radical change that is needed will not happen without hard work. It requires collaborative action between ship operators, Government, ports, logistics partners, and investors.
The good news is many of the components we need already exist, with a huge potential offshore wind pipeline, emerging new fuels, innovative port operators and a growing network full of logistics companies wanting to work in an environmentally friendly way.
What is needed now is Government and business leadership to pull the strands together into a national strategy.
