Rik Janssen, regional minister of the Province of Zuid-Holland and chairman of CLINSH, spoke last Friday morning at the Ports & the City conference in Nijmegen. The aim of the conference was to inform and inspire on how to make inland port areas healthy, liveable, sustainable and smart.

“CLINSH provides a way for operators to assess the business case for investing in environmental improvements. But we have certainly noticed that it’s not always easy for individual operators to participate in the CLINSH project. Participation requires a serious investment, and also an investment of time - very often their own time. Even so, many skippers and other partners from the sector are well aware of the need to innovate”, Janssen said.

“Inland shipping needs to become greener, faster, and skippers need support to overcome the finance obstacles that may be holding them back. Looking for ways to provide this support is also a specific aspect of the CLINSH project - in addition to making the participating vessels more environmentally sustainable.”

“It will probably come as no surprise to hear that high concentrations of air pollution can have a very damaging effect on the health of European citizens. Particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), in particular, are responsible for this damage. These are precisely the emissions that we will be measuring as part of the CLINSH project.”

CLINSH chairman Janssen concluded: “In the near future, vessels that emit too much particulate matter and nitrogen oxides will no longer be able to enter certain ports. With effect from 2020, for instance, that will be the case in the Port of Rotterdam. That alone is a very good reason to take action now!”