THE operator of the Island’s Airport and harbours has unveiled a plan to become net-zero within eight years.
Ports of Jersey released the ‘ambitious and authentic’ strategy yesterday, while inviting Islanders to hold them to account over their targets.
The firm has also tried to quash any accusations of green-washing, claiming that it has already started to deliver some of its goals for 2022.
This includes the roll-out of its new ‘carbon pass’ app which enables passengers to calculate their carbon emissions and offset them by donating to Durrell’s Rewild Carbon programme.
A project to replace block and chain moorings – which can damage carbon-reducing seagrass – and a scheme to install water-saving devices across all of Ports’ buildings are also under way.
Meanwhile, Ports of Jersey has also enrolled in the global Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme, which includes annual external audits to ensure carbon reductions are being made.
Jenny Marek-Murray, Ports of Jersey’s director of corporate services and sustainability, said the plan was not just a public-relations project.
‘The accusation of green-washing is what keeps me up at night. You cannot get awayfrom it – there is this big hairy greenhouse-gas-emitting elephant in the room when you talk about sustainability in harbours and airports,’ she said.
‘But, with our plan, it is not just pretty words, it is not just pretty graphics, it is real deliverables in 2022. We want people to hold us accountable for it.
‘Doing things like the ACI accreditation is great because it will show the progress we are making and, as annoying as it will be, it will be externally audited every year to ensure we are doing what we need to do. That will hopefully get us away from the greenwashing accusations.’
Each week, private and commercial aircraft land and take off in Jersey, and they are all powered by fossil fuels. At the same time, virtually all of the vessels which supply the Island with its essential goods run on diesel.
Ms Marek-Murray said Ports of Jersey was not going to wait until technological advances were made before trying to make improvements.
She added: ‘We believe that by 2030 we will have some kind of sustainable aviation aeroplanes. It will probably just be Jersey to Guernsey and not much further but it will be a start.
‘My goal is that when these technologies need to be tested, or when Blue Islands or Condor bring in the first electric or hydrogen aircraft or vessel, they want to come to us and they want to bring that stuff here.’
