Abstract Seaports are integral hubs of maritime supply chains and contribute to socio-economic development for communities. However, seaports can create negative impacts on host communities. Adopting sustainability initiatives within seaport operations is growing rapidly, and while many seaports claim to operate green or sustainably, sustainable port initiatives and approaches are poorly described in the academic literature. This research explores relationships between existing seaport sustainability and the current narrative that exists related to sustainability improvements. Thirty-six seaports were selected from North America (NA), Europe (EU) and Asia Pacific (AP) for analysis. Twenty-five (25) pre-defined indicators were used to identify operational trends linked to sustainability claimed by seaports. Each operation was assessed using publicly available data; using a mixed methods approach, descriptive statistical analysis for sustainability initiatives was performed to assess seaport sustainability efforts. Results show that EU seaports have made more progress in adopting various sustainability initiatives compared to NA and AP seaports, despite the public narrative of most seaport executives about their commitment to manage environmental impacts, and being good corporate citizens. Initiative most widely adopted include: greater emphasis on internal environmental policy and management – including third-party certification; investment in proactive environmental solutions; and enhanced stakeholder engagement.

中文翻译：

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可持续性在全球海港中的作用

摘要 海港是海运供应链不可或缺的枢纽，有助于社区的社会经济发展。然而，海港会对东道社区产生负面影响。在海港运营中采用可持续性举措正在迅速增长，虽然许多海港声称以绿色或可持续方式运营，但学术文献中对可持续港口举措和方法的描述很差。这项研究探讨了现有海港可持续性与当前与可持续性改进相关的叙述之间的关系。从北美 (NA)、欧洲 (EU) 和亚太地区 (AP) 中选择了 36 个海港进行分析。二十五 (25) 个预定义指标用于确定与海港声称的可持续性相关的运营趋势。每项操作都使用公开数据进行评估；使用混合方法，对可持续性举措进行了描述性统计分析，以评估海港可持续性工作。结果表明，与北美和亚太地区海港相比，欧盟海港在采用各种可持续发展举措方面取得了更大进展，尽管大多数海港高管公开表示他们致力于管理环境影响并成为优秀的企业公民。最广泛采用的举措包括： 更加重视内部环境政策和管理——包括第三方认证；投资于积极的环境解决方案；并加强利益相关者的参与。对可持续性举措进行了描述性统计分析，以评估海港可持续性努力。结果表明，与北美和亚太地区海港相比，欧盟海港在采用各种可持续发展举措方面取得了更大进展，尽管大多数海港高管公开表示他们致力于管理环境影响并成为优秀的企业公民。最广泛采用的举措包括： 更加重视内部环境政策和管理——包括第三方认证；投资于积极的环境解决方案；并加强利益相关者的参与。对可持续性举措进行了描述性统计分析，以评估海港可持续性努力。结果表明，与北美和亚太地区海港相比，欧盟海港在采用各种可持续发展举措方面取得了更大进展，尽管大多数海港高管公开表示他们致力于管理环境影响并成为优秀的企业公民。最广泛采用的举措包括： 更加重视内部环境政策和管理——包括第三方认证；投资于积极的环境解决方案；并加强利益相关者的参与。尽管大多数海港高管都公开表示他们致力于管理环境影响并成为优秀的企业公民。最广泛采用的举措包括： 更加重视内部环境政策和管理——包括第三方认证；投资于积极的环境解决方案；并加强利益相关者的参与。尽管大多数海港高管都公开表示他们致力于管理环境影响并成为优秀的企业公民。最广泛采用的举措包括： 更加重视内部环境政策和管理——包括第三方认证；投资于积极的环境解决方案；并加强利益相关者的参与。