PIANC - International Navigation Association

Harald KötheChairman

PIANC EnviCom - Environmental Commission

5th World Water ForumSession “Inland Waterborne Transport”,

Istanbul, Turkey 17th March 2009

Inland Waterways – Inland Waterways – procedures and concepts procedures and concepts

to ensure environmental sustainabilityto ensure environmental sustainability

Contents

1. Introduction 2. Environmental aspects, procedures and concepts - Impacts from Vessels (emissions, impacts on water) - Maintenance and Development of Inland Waterways

(Environmental Assessment Procedures, Management of Dredged Material)

3. Outlook and conclusions

Inland Waterways – Inland Waterways – procedures and concepts procedures and concepts to ensure environmental to ensure environmental sustainabilitysustainability

PIANC – Environmental Commission is• responsible for dealing with both broad and very specific navigation sustainability and environmental risk-related issues of interest to PIANC, • developing and providing environmental guidance for sustainable waterborne transport, ports and waterways, • responsible for generic environmental risk-related issues that cross cut all PIANC areas, partners activities and the other PIANC commissions,• networking/communicating with international organizations and associations dealing with sustainability and environmental risk issues,• initiating efforts to enhance PIANC membership and co-operation with environmental specialists, and sharing of information on navigation and the environment with Countries in Transition.

hascurrently 30 members from 15 nations and 6 partner organizations worldwide and meets 2 times per year

MDGs + Inland waterways transport (IWT)

UN Millennium Development GoalsGoal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger•Goal 2: Archieve universal primary education•Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower womenGoal 4: Reduce child mortalityGoal 5: Improve maternal healthGoal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainabilityGoal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Sustainable means:…“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Vessel Emissions with Regard to Climate Change

4 % of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission anthropogenic: Transportion sector: road ~23%, maritime shipping ~2,7% (~ 843 million t CO2/y) inland shipping: more less!

Vessel Emissions with Regard to Climate Change

• IWT is characterized by low energy consumption and therefore a small carbon footprint

• despite: measures for the reduction of GHG emissions from IWT have been identified for implementation e.g.

- reduction of fuel consumption (e.g. speed reduction, wind drive, onshore power supply in ports and harbours)

- use of sulphur reduced fuels (decision of IMO Oct 2008) and alternative fuels

- new vessel motors and use of particle filters (reduction of CO, HC, NOx, particles)

Vessel Emissions with Regard to Climate Change

- Mitigation: keep and develop IWT as the most climate-friendly mode of transportation!

- Adaptation: Prepare IWT for the challenges of climate change impacts (e.g. more droughts, more floods)

published in 2008

Impacts from Vessels on inland waters

PIANC report (2008) : “Considerations to reduce Environmental Impacts of Vessels on inland waterways” :

• deeper insight into the most important impacts and their ecological effects, overview of all possible interactions

• vessels vary widely worldwide in size and propulsion type

• Moving vessels primarily induce drawdown, return currents, transversal stern waves, and slope supply flows• Impacts from moving vessels can include e.g.

- fish larvae mortality from propeller impact,- larval stranding due to drawdown, - resuspension and transport of sediments in littoral zones that support aquatic macrophytes and spawning habitats,- scour and/or burial of benthic organisms,

but are usually not a serious environmental problem.

Impacts from Vessels on inland waters

Mitigation measures can include- specific navigation rules, - adapted vessel design, - adapted fairway design, - modified revetments and alternative bank protection measures.

Highly efficient mitigation of operation related impacts is in most cases relatively easy to achieve!

And: Prosecution of illegal discharges (e.g. oil, fuel or other waste substances) from ships must be accomplished forceful worldwide.

Maintenance and Development of Inland Waterways

Highly increased awareness about importance of the environment and its natural resources for the life on earth within the last decades

Various environmental conventions and regulations came into force, that directly or indirectly applies for inland waterways, e.g. in Europe

• Birds Directive (European Union, 1979)• Habitats Directive (European Union, 1992) • NATURA 2000: network of over 26,000 protected areas covering all EU Member States and 20 % of its territory

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (EU, 1997)• Water Framework Directive - WFD (EU, 2000)

backbone of the EU's internal policy on biodiversity protection

Maintenance and Development of Inland Waterways

Environmental Assessment Procedures for IWTestablished now in various countries worldwide:

• “Guidelines for Sustainable Inland Waterways and Navigation” (PIANC 2003), includes

• a recommended procedure for both strategic and project planning based upon an assessment of the interactions among inland navigation and the ecosystems

• aimed primarily at mid-level managers involved in Inland Waterborne Transport (IWT) planning and operations,

• useful to a broader audience involved with navigation or water management and gives attention to developing countries

• European Guidance document (ECMT, 2006): “Inland Waterways & Environmental Protection”

Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures (EIA) for IWT

Key steps of the EIA procedure to guide IWT project owners (structured approach, PIANC 2003 + ECMT, 2006):

1. Project Preparations 2. Notification to Competent Authority3. Screening4. Scoping5. Environmental Studies6. Submission of Environmental Information to Competent Authority 7. Review of Adequacy of Environmental Information 8. Consultation with Statutory Environmental Authorities, other

interested parties and the public9. Consideration of the Environmental Information by the competent

Authorities before making Development Consent Decision10. Announcement of Decision11. Post-Decision Monitoring if Project is Granted Consent

Environmental Assessment Procedures for IWT

Several countries in Europe have derived specific national plans of procedures for waterways from this general EU EIA procedure (ECMT 2006),

e.g. France, Germany, Austria, Romania, Ukraine

Similar procedures exist in other part of the worlde.g. USA

Current new EU guidance documents in preparation(EU, 2008/2009):• „Estuaries and Navigation“ (expert group on estuaries)• „Inland Waterways & NATURA 2000“ (expert group on rivers)

Environmental Assessment Procedures for IWT

EIA Procedure in France for large infrastucture projects

Environmental Assessment Procedures for IWT

EIA Procedure in Germany for construction projects

Management of dredged material and sediments

Dredging is the excavation, lifting,transport of sediments and soils,necessary for the construction,maintenance of ports and waterways, dikes, other non-IWT infrastructures.

Globally, many hundreds of millions of cubic metres (m3) of sediments are dredged annually, most is being handled in coastal areas.

Sediments are a basic component of habitats that support aquatic life. Problem of sediment contamination:Usually navigation is not the polluter but has to deal with the contamination in maintenance and development projects. This increases the costs and sometimes the duration of plan approval procedures.

Management of dredged material and sediments

Established dredged material guidance worldwide:

• Dredged Material Assessment Framework of the London Convention (LC-DMAF): conduct of a thorough environmental impact assessment (EIA) to identify potential effects of a given dredging project prior to its execution and to reduce uncertainty about the scales of those impacts.

• Joint efforts between PIANC + WODA (World Dredging Association) + IADC (International Association of Dredging Companies):

- lots of valuable guiding reports about the environmentally-sound handling and management of dredged material,

- e.g. most recent PIANC reports provide up-to-date guidance:

- “Dredging Management Practices for the Environment – A Structured Selection Approach” (PIANC 2008), - “Dredged Material as a Resource - Options and Constraints” (PIANC 2008)

Outlook: Working WITH NatureWorking WITH Nature – Concept – Concept (PIANC 2008)(PIANC 2008)

What do we mean? (1)

• Maximising opportunitiesMaximising opportunities WWN is an integrated process which involves identifying and exploiting win-win solutionswin-win solutions which are acceptable to both project designers and environmental stakeholders early in a project when flexibility is still possible. • reducing frustrations, delays and costs.reducing frustrations, delays and costs.By adopting a determined and proactive approachproactive approach from pre-design through to project completion, opportunities can be maximised and - importantly - frustrations, delays and associated extra costs can be reduced.

What do we mean? (2)

A different process considering environmental impacts:A different process considering environmental impacts:Fully integrated approach Fully integrated approach beforebefore initial design.initial design.

Doing things in a different order:Doing things in a different order:1.1. establish project objectivesestablish project objectives2.2. understand the environmentunderstand the environment3.3. engage stakeholders to identify possible engage stakeholders to identify possible

win-win opportunitieswin-win opportunities4.4. prepare initial project design to benefit prepare initial project design to benefit

navigation navigation andand nature natureA new way of thinkingA new way of thinking Requires a subtle - but important - Requires a subtle - but important - evolutionevolution in the way in the way we approach project developmentwe approach project development

Outlook: Working WITH NatureWorking WITH Nature - WWN- WWN

Conclusions

• IWT sector has up-to-date Environmental Assessment Procedures and practical experiences available to ensure that IWT can act sustainable as an environmentally-sound and climate-friendly water user.

• The environmental guidance and the experiences can be transfered to (e.g. via PIANC) and adopted tailor-made by every country.

• Early involvement of the navigation sector in the development and implementation of environmental regulations is important.

• Through Integrated Water Resources Management a balance can be achieved between protecting and enhancing the river ecosystem and all other water uses including navigation.

• Implement the Working with Nature Concept to find win-win-solutions.

• With proper use of the existing guidance, IWT is and will remain the most environmentally responsible and safe transportation mode!

Ecology WFD

Navigation Economy

Water

Visit the PIANC homepage:http://www.pianc.org

Thank you for your attention !

Harald KötheChairman PIANC EnviCom

PIANC is “The global organisation providing guidance for sustainablesustainable

waterborne transport, ports and waterways”.