Green Marine Europe Attends the 2026 Assises Nationales du Fleuve

On 15 and 16 October 2026, Green Marine Europe attended the third edition of the Assises Nationales du Fleuve in Marseille, an event bringing together public and private stakeholders involved in the future of inland waterway transport, inland ports and river-based territories.

Held under the theme of a "New Deal for Inland Waterways", the event gathered nearly 300 participants and around 60 speakers to discuss major challenges, including the role of rivers in regional development, logistics and modal shift, the energy transition, economic development, water management, and connections between maritime and inland port systems.

Green Marine Europe was represented by Antidia Citores, General Manager, and Garance Tulard, Program Coordinator. Their participation provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of a sector that is still relatively new to the programme, while meeting representatives of ports, port associations, inland waterway operators and logistics stakeholders.

These exchanges are particularly relevant as Green Marine Europe expanded its environmental certification programme to ports in 2026. They highlighted several challenges shared by the maritime and inland waterway sectors, including environmental performance, the energy transition, integrated logistics chains, relationships with local communities and cooperation between port stakeholders.

The inland waterway sector is already represented among the eight ports participating in Green Marine Europe's certification program, notably through the Port Autonome du Centre et de l'Ouest (PACO) in Belgium. The gradual inclusion of a wider range of ports, both maritime and inland, is an important area of interest for the program. It offers an opportunity to better understand the specific characteristics of different operating environments while addressing shared environmental challenges.

Several organisations already involved in the Green Marine Europe network also attended the event in Marseille, including the Grand Port Maritime de Bordeaux, CMA CGM and the Sogestran Group.

The conference program placed particular emphasis on the role of inland waterway transport in developing more integrated and decarbonised logistics. One panel discussion, exploring the river as a "corridor of prosperity", brought together representatives of CMA CGM, the French Association of Inland Ports and the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille. Another session focused on the links between energy, industry and the energy transition, with contributions from Sogestran, among others.

Green Marine Europe's participation therefore served two main objectives: to develop a better understanding of the inland waterway sector and its stakeholders, and to continue expanding the programme's engagement with sectors closely connected to maritime transport and port activities.

These two days provided a valuable opportunity to establish new contacts with inland waterway stakeholders and gain further insight into the developments shaping this sector.