From Dunkirk to Fécamp: Territorial Cooperation at the Heart of the Port Sector’s Environmental Transition

In early November, Green Marine Europe attended two events dedicated to the future of ports and their surrounding communities: the 21st AIVP World Conference Cities & Ports, held in Dunkirk, and the 5th Ports Conference, organised by the Seine-Maritime Department in Fécamp. While different in scale, both events highlighted a shared challenge: turning territorial cooperation into a concrete driver of environmental progress.

In Dunkirk, port cities at the heart of major transitions

Held from 3 to 6 November 2026 under the theme “Cities and Ports in Motion: It’s Our Move!”, the 21st World Conference of the International Association of Cities and Ports (AIVP) placed the transformation of port cities and territories at the centre of discussions.

Energy transition, climate change adaptation, biodiversity protection, public health, the evolution of industrial activities and shared governance are all challenges that call for a fresh approach to the relationship between ports, cities and their communities.

Dunkirk provides a particularly telling example of these interconnections. Industrial decarbonisation, circular water management, infrastructure adaptation and cooperation between public and private stakeholders are all contributing to a transformation that extends far beyond port boundaries.

These priorities also resonate with the strengthened collaboration established in 2025 between Green Marine International and AIVP. Their partnership aims, in particular, to explore synergies between the priorities of AIVP’s 2030 Agenda and Green Marine’s environmental certification programs, helping to better connect environmental performance with social considerations and stakeholder expectations.

In Fécamp, turning climate challenges into practical solutions

On 6 November, the 5th Ports Conference, organised by the Seine-Maritime Department in Fécamp, addressed these challenges from a local and regional perspective, focusing on a central question: “What strategies can address climate challenges and decarbonisation?”

Discussions covered several key issues, including financing the adaptation of port and coastal infrastructure, cooperation between ports and local authorities, skills development, and opportunities to decarbonise port activities and the fishing sector, particularly through insights from the P4Ever study.

This collective mobilisation highlighted the challenges facing regional and local ports, whose environmental transition is closely linked to available resources, economic activities and local dynamics.

These discussions are particularly relevant to Green Marine Europe, as the Port of Fécamp participates in the program through the Syndicat Mixte des Ports de la Seine-Maritime.

From collective ambition to measurable progress

Although these two events approached port transformation from different perspectives, they underscored a common priority: environmental ambitions must translate into concrete actions, with progress monitored and assessed over time.

Cooperation between port authorities, local governments, businesses and other stakeholders is essential to driving this transformation. Yet collaboration must also be supported by practical tools to structure environmental initiatives and measure their outcomes.

This is where Green Marine Europe plays its part. Through its environmental certification program, built around performance indicators covering a broad range of issues - including biodiversity protection, air, water and soil quality, and stakeholder relations -together with a continuous improvement approach and independent verification, the program helps port stakeholders improve and demonstrate their environmental performance.

From major industrial ports to smaller regional and local ports, circumstances and resources may differ. The challenge remains the same: building credible, long-term pathways for environmental improvement, tailored to each port’s activities and operating context.