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TOC Europe 2022 focuses on sustainability

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Following record attendance numbers for the first day of TOC Europe 2022 in Rotterdam, the doors opened for day two to herald another busy day. Aside from the business conversations taking place across the exhibition floor, the conference sessions again proved popular with delegates, with the theme for the day being Sustainability.

Keynote speaker Annike Kroon, European Commission DG Mobility and Transport, started the ball rolling with a comprehensive overview of the “Fit for 55 Package” for maritime and logistics, and how this will ultimately lead to make shipping more sustainable.

IKEA’s Global Sustainability Manager Elizabeth Munck, speaking remotely at the hybrid conference, talked delegates through IKEA’s plans to grow its business whilst aiming to achieve carbon positivity. “We want to demonstrate our confidence to achieve targets and assure our stakeholders that this is the way forward,” she said.

Speaking under the topic of Energy Transition, Ashley Woods, Head of Global Environmental Improvement at AP Moeller Maersk showed examples and case studies of how urgent actions are being undertaken to decarbonise global shipping.

Douwe van der Stroom, a former environmental campaigner now steering Port of Rotterdam’s campaign to focus on efficiency and sustainability at the EU’s largest port, talked the delegates through its four pillars of energy transformation. Among them is the construction at Port of Rotterdam of a hydrogen production facility as well as a biomethanol production plant. “Our ambition is to become smarter and more sustainable,” he stated.

Electric? Hydrogen? Biofuel? Ammonia? The future beyond fossil fuels was at the heart of a round-table discussion between representatives from McKinsey & Co, AP Moller-Maersk, NOW GmbH, Port of Helsinki and TBA Group. Of course, the definitive answer is hard to predict, but the industry is urged to be ready to adapt and then adopt whichever alternative prevails.

Looking outside of Europe, TOC Europe shone the spotlight on Morocco and Brazil. Morocco’s Port of Tangier was of particular interest to the delegates, for not only is it well-placed to be a principal entry point for goods into Africa, but it will also host the inaugural TOC Africa in 2023.