Livorno is increasingly affirming its strategic role in the fight against environmental pollution. It intends to candidate itself as one of the Mediterranean’s pilot cities for European projects that know how to reconcile the development of the maritime economy with sustainability and innovation.
With this in mind, this morning, at the closing conference of the European LIFE4MEDECA project, the president of the North Tyrrhenian Port Network Authority (PNA), Luciano Guerrieri, announced the PNA’s adhesion to the European Commission’s ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission, which aims to protect and restore the health of the Mediterranean Sea and the Ocean.
It is not a question of a signature at the bottom of a more-or-less substantial declaration of intent, but of taking a stand, committing the port authority to promoting transversal actions to support reaching the decarbonization targets set by the EU and the International Maritime Organization.
These include setting up, as of 1st May 2025, a low Emission Control Area (ECA) for atmospheric pollutants in the Mediterranean. An ambitious target that LIFE4MEDECA has been supporting over the last three years, contributing from a technical and scientific point-of-view to demonstrating the benefits of more sustainable shipping, both for mankind and the environment.
The results of this European project which the PNA coordinated, were presented this morning at the Mediterranean Natural History Museum. The conference featured Italian and international research studies and institutional representatives from most of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, including Spain, France. Egypt, Algeria and Turkey .
In the workshop, LIFE4MEDECA stakeholders took on the legacy of an important project which looks to the future, defining opportunities for collaboration at European level, i.e. the “Restore our Ocean and Waters” Mission which the PNA has committed itself to by presenting three specific areas of action.
The areas in which action is to be taken have already been put in writing in the document supporting the initiative, signed on the day by PNA managing director, Matteo Paroli. The first activity involves setting up a modern knowledge centre in Livorno itself, i.e. a sort of online platform to share, use and manage information related to LIFE4MEDECA, guaranteeing all stakeholders access to selected content and promoting knowledge sharing.
Other initiatives include innovative experimentation to encourage the growth of a sustainable Blue Econony (first and foremost, real practical trials for developing autonomous ship technology) and the presentation of projects promoting the development and dissemination of a European value chain for clean hydrogen technology, to be agreed upon in the framework of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, launched by the EU in November 2021.
“With the final decision taken by the IMO in December 2022, formalizing setting up an ECA in the Mediterranean in 2025, LIFE4MEDECA has been faced with the task of defining a roadmap that will enable us to be ready to respect the future emission limits of our Sea,” said PNA President, Luciano Guerrieri, at the opening of the Conference. He underlined the importance of this event that has brought together experts and top institutional representatives in Livorno, rallying an extended international community.
“The path we are all on together cannot be separated from the combination of technology, financial and governance tools and monitoring the progress towards climate neutrality. Ports and local communities are called upon to make investment choices, based on common methodologies and shared assessments, and no regional area should be left behind,” he added.
“By leveraging the important results this project has produced, we, as a Port Network Authority, have decided to implement a development strategy that allows this initiative, of great interest to the European Union, to express its full potential,” Mr. Guerrieri concluded.
“By signing the Mission Charter, we have manifested our willingness to make a contribution to the achievement of the Mission’s objectives through one or more specific actions,” explained Mr. Paroli on the sidelines of the signing of the Mission Ocean adhesion document.” The ecological transition not only requires infrastructure: it also needs a common culture, particularly advanced know-how in technical, economic, and regulatory terms, strong cohesion in the port community, and an ability to cooperate with institutions, stakeholders, and ports that have interests that do not always converge,” he stressed. “Today’s event shows just how sensitive and aware the port logistics world is to decarbonization and environmental sustainability issues.”
At the opening of the conference, Euro MP Mario Campomenosi emphasised the role the city of Livorno has as a forerunner and its strong involvement in the initiatives to prevent, abate, and reduce the pollution that afflicts our seas, outlined in the LIFE4MEDECA project, to zero: “The city of Livorno is an important example for everyone,” he said. “The targets set out in LIFE4MEDECA have not yet been reached. However, today marks a second start for a project that I hope will soon involve an even greater number of countries supporting it.”
Translation by Giles Foster
