Weekly Snapshot

It's slightly too early for the BPA's political analysts to have fully digested the overnight English local and mayoral election result yet so looking through this week’s news highlights they are mostly focussing on the environment and sustainability (sorry Rhona for encroaching on your eco-expert turf).

With the UK’s green revolution in full swing the country’s push toward net zero has been in the spotlight. Reportedly last year, the net zero sector added £83bn to the economy and supported nearly a million jobs, and this upward trend is expected to continue in 2025. The net zero economy has become a significant driver of growth and innovation in the UK and ports, it turns out, are the poster children of this eco-friendly surge – they’re no longer just gateways for cargo but champions of carbon consciousness. Indeed we are working on further case studies to complement what we have already shown ports are doing in terms of their own environmental performance. So, to all our members driving change, keep up the excellent work – you’re helping to balance the books and the biosphere!

Meanwhile Thursday brought us the warmest day of the year so far, and Zoe and I soaked up the sunshine during an excellent visit to the Port of Milford Haven for the BPA’s Procurement Managers subgroup meeting. My only regret is that we didn’t accidently miss another train and have to work remotely from beautiful Pembrokeshire! Elsewhere, Mark was representing the BPA in Liverpool at the CLIA Cruise Tourism Summit, and Richard was at the Coastlink Conference talking about the UK and EU's ETS carbon levies and impacts on ports!

So, whatever you might be doing this ‘May Day’ weekend, whether it’s dancing round a Maypole, lighting fires to protect your cattle, or less traditional customs - take a moment to celebrate a world that’s getting just a little greener, a little sunnier, and a lot more hopeful.

Eileen Salmon

British Ports Association

Ofgem expected to confirm reforms to grid connections

This week the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced that it expected Ofgem to confirm the National Energy System Operator's (NESO) ambitious new plan to reform grid connections to help unlock £40bn a year in clean energy investment. 

The new plans aim to prioritise businesses that will drive growth and deliver energy security by reducing the number of so-called 'zombie' projects currently holding up the queue for connection to the electricity grid. 

This comes after £43.7bn of private investment has been announced into the UK's clean energy industries since July. By taking a more strategic and planned approach, these changes will remove the need for tens of billions of pounds of unnecessary grid reinforcement and will hopefully speed up the connection process for those businesses currently 'grid locked'.

The BPA is supportive of the measure and the full article can be found here.

CCC Report on UK Climate Adaptation

This week the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC) published its report to Parliament on the UK's adaption to climate change. The CCC is an independent body that is tasked with reporting to Parliament every two years on the progress made on the UK's adaptation to climate change via the National Adaptation Programme. 

The 2025 report assesses adaptation efforts by sector (including ports) as well as across key themes, such as marine ecosystems. The overarching findings are that:

• The UK’s preparations for climate change are inadequate.
• Delivery has not significantly moved on in the last two years.
• Inadequate monitoring and evaluation remain a barrier to effective progress monitoring.

The CCC assessed ports' adaptation efforts through the sector's adaption reports. Approximately 10 of the largest ports in England (and Milford Haven) are invited to report voluntarily as part of this process, usually every five years. The most recent reporting period was significantly shorter however, which made producing detailed reports more challenging, particularly for those reporting for the first time. We were invited, and agreed, to submit a high-level report for the industry as a whole as part of the most recent reporting period. This work is still ongoing however.

The Committee is fairly critical of ports' adaptation reporting, saying the six reports that were published were "generally of limited quality, with many operators submitting high-level or general adaptation plans", although it highlights Peel Ports as an example of good practice, with specific adaptation measures assigned against a comprehensive range of risks and receptors. It says that evidence of delivery of climate adaption in the ports sector is lower than other modes, with reported action mostly "limited to light touch actions such as monitoring and maintenance". It does however also praise the Port of Dover's adaptation report and work undertaken by Peel Ports.

Delivery and implementation of adaptation plans for asset and system level reliability of port operations is rated as "insufficient" - the lowest of three possible scores. In addition the report ranks the existence of high-quality government policies and plans to support port adaptation as "limited" and say that the quality of the evidence available to them to assess ports' adaptation is "low". They also say there is still no quantitative data available to assess progress for airports, ports, or interdependencies.

The Committee makes several recommendations to government to improve the UK's resilience to climate change. We will discuss this issue and our response at the next Environment & Sustainability Group meeting alongside our progress in producing an industry-wide report. 

Proposed Changes to Landfill Tax Exemption for Dredged Material

The UK Government have launched a consultation on the Reform of Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland. The Treasury is proposing to restrict the current dredging exemption to dredged material only, removing additives used to stabilise/dehydrate the material from the exemption from April 2027. We are seeking input from ports as to the impact this will have and are also mindful the regime might extend to Scotland and Wales, in due course.

The current exemption applies to material removed from the beds of inland waterways and harbours by dredging or a similar process and sent to landfill. Under environmental regulations, material sent to landfill must be sufficiently dry, to ensure it does not leach into the surrounding environment. In 2007 the government extended the scope of the exemption to cover dredged material that has been treated with additives so that it is no longer a liquid waste. To qualify for the exemption, the additive used must have dehydrating properties or bind the excess moisture content within the dredged material, to produce a material that is not liquid. 

The Treasury says that around 600,000 tonnes of material were disposed of to landfill in 2023 under the dredging exemption but the government does not currently hold reliable data on how much of this material is comprised of stabilising material (however they say that the amounts of stabiliser being used sometimes with a ratio as high as over 1:5 stabiliser to dredged material). The Treasury says it believes that in some cases this may be done to avoid paying Landfill Tax. 

The Government is also proposing to remove the lower rate of Landfill Tax, which broadly applies to inert, less polluting materials such as rocks and soil. This is to encourage recycling and reuse.

DfT Maritime Decarb Webinars

Following the publication of the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy earlier this year, the Department for Transport will be running a series of webinars throughout May, covering the following topics:

• 15 May 10:30-11:30 - Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy: overview of the Strategy and plans for future policy development. Event link
• 19 May 10:30-11:30 - Calls for evidence on Net Zero Ports and Decarbonising Smaller Vessels: this will focus on why these calls for evidence have been published and how you can respond. Event link
• 28 May 14:00-15:00 - Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy: this will be a repeat of the 15 May session. Event link
• 30 May 10:30-11:30 - Maritime Emissions Model: this will explain the modelling that underpins the Strategy. Event link 

Major explosion at Iranian port  

Finally we were saddened to see the major explosion at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port on Saturday which you might have seen covered in the media. Although it is not fully clear what happened media reports suggest that it was likely to be caused by the improper storage and handling of hazardous chemicals, specifically ammonium perchlorate and sodium perchlorate — substances used in missile fuel and other combustible propellants. 

The explosion occurred the Sina container yard of the port, resulting in 70 deaths and over 1000 injuries. State media reported the fire triggered multiple container explosions and widespread damage, including a building collapse. Iranian authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, focusing on potential negligence in handling flammable materials. There are some upsetting images of the explosion online which we do not wish to share but drone footage of the damage after the event shows the devastating impact, here.

Both ammonium perchlorate and sodium perchlorate are classified as hazardous substances due to their strong oxidizing properties and potential use in explosives. In the UK, the handling of hazardous chemicals like ammonium and sodium perchlorates is subject to stringent controls and approvals.

Specific data on the frequency of the imports/exports of such chemicals is not available but we understand its use is very limited therefore we do not anticipate there being much, if any quantities handled at UK ports. However, Port Skills and Safety (PSS) has Safety in Ports (SiP008) guidance on handling/storage of bulk cargos that has passages on hazardous and explosive cargos and is well used by UK operators.