A port with sustainability at its core

One of the things I love most about working for the Port of London is that it serves as a meeting point for three hugely important and very different issues: growth and trade, supporting the communities who live and work alongside the port, and promoting sustainability.

What is clear to me is that they each rely on the others. To make long-term positive moves on one of these areas; we have to make long-term positive moves on all of these areas.

I think people are sometimes surprised at our commitment to that idea, and particularly our commitment to sustainability. Not unreasonably, people often think about the UK’s biggest port in terms of our role in the economy, in enabling businesses to grow, and in supporting jobs and local communities.

But the PLA is a lot more than a conventional port. We are also privileged to have a responsibility to care for the 95 miles of the tidal Thames, from Teddington Lock on the border of Surrey through London, Kent, Essex and out to the North Sea.

To help us do that, we have status as what is called a Trust Port. That means we hold the port – and the river – in trust. We have no shareholders or targets for dividend payments; only a commitment to reinvest the money we make to improve the tidal Thames and support those who live and work alongside it.

Another of the things I love about working at the PLA is how we do that. We align innovation, investment, and ambition to work towards securing a cleaner river, with cleaner air, supporting a resilient river and port. And we aim to become the UK’s first net zero port by 2040.

What does that mean in practice? Well, often we do things – both big and small – that others can’t. For example, we permitted and licenced the Tideway super sewer, we remove 250 tonnes of rubbish from the river each year, we led a first-of-its-kind project to get rid of 5 million wet wipes from the foreshore of west London, we introduced a green tariff for cleaner ships and boats coming to port, we are working with UCL to cut microplastics entering the river, we are actively supporting projects that aim to bring electric vessels to the river, and we act to improve natural environments such as by restoring saltmarshes and other priority habitats.

We do all of this and more in a way that aligns with our commitment to back and enable growth and support local communities, while ensuring we pass on the River Thames in a healthier condition than we found it.

Can you see why I love working here?!?

-- Grace Rawnsley, PLA Director of Sustainability