Events

2024 EuDA Annual Conference at Stanhope Hotel Brussels“Making Waterborne Infrastructure Projects Sustainable.”

Following the global commitments taken in 2015 in Paris and the increased awareness of the need to take immediate action, many initiatives have been taken by International Organizations and Institutions to tackle the most pressing negative externalities from economic activities around the world. Among these externalities, we find the various forms of pollution in the air, water or soil including noise pollution. If left untackled in the medium to long term, these pollutions can further harm nature and degrade its systems, through eutrophication, acidification, climate change.

Besides these environmental aspects, sustainable development approaches integrate social and societal as well as economic dimensions. In the EU, on the one hand, major disruptions in supply chains were caused by the COVID pandemic and highlighted the crucial role played by waterborne transport system and the strategic necessity to keep it fully functional. On the other hand, the war in Ukraine emphasised the danger of overdependence on too few energy suppliers. Offshore energy infrastructures are therefore considered more and more strategic for Europe’s energy independence as well as for the greening of its energy blend.

The OECD and the European Commission have taken key initiatives that aim at improving the sustainability of waterborne (transport and energy) infrastructure projects. At global level, the OECD Blue Dot Network proposes a voluntary framework to promote quality infrastructure projects around the world. Under the Green Deal, the EU has developed a regulatory framework for sustainable finance targeting the ‘green transition’ of industrial activities and companies towards sustainability. In this framework the EU imposes mandatory annual reporting on the sustainability performance of companies. Under the Green Taxonomy, the EU also specifies criteria for classifying the level of sustainability of economic activities as well as the progress in their green transitioning. As these initiatives target the financing of infrastructure projects, key players in the financial markets will be asked to present their views.

In the 2024 EuDA Annual Conference, representatives from the OECD and the European Commission will make keynote addresses in which they will present their initiatives to improve the sustainability of waterborne infrastructure projects as well as their state of play. A panel discussion will then follow with representatives from the Banking, the Insurance and the Financial Audit Industries, as well as representatives from an Environmental NGO and the Dredging Industry who will discuss these initiatives and exchange their views based on their current experience and future expectations regarding the economic activities involved in waterborne infrastructure projects. The floor will then be opened for meaningful exchanges with the audience.

Conference Overview:

Conference Opening

Mr Marc Van den Broeck – EuDA Chairman

Conference Moderation

Mr Paris Sansoglou – EuDA Secretary General
Short introduction of the conference theme and speakers

Keynotes Addresses

Voluntary Global Framework: The OECD Blue Dot Network (BDN)

 Presentation of the OECD Blue Dot Network (functioning and state of play)

Mr Edwin Lau – OECD Head of Blue Dot Network Secretariat Presentation

EU Mandatory Framework: The Green Taxonomy

 Presentation of the Green Taxonomy in the context of Sustainable Finance (functioning and state of play)

Mrs Claudia Olazábal – European Commission, DG ENV Head of Unit on Fresh Water Management Presentation

Speakers

Exchange of views from key Actors on the Blue Dot Network and the Green Taxonomy

 Banks

Mrs Ann-Christin Stucke – Sustainability Expert in Sustainability Team of ABN AMRO Corporate Bank Presentation

 Financial Auditors

Mr Gijs de Graaff – KPMG Partner Sustainability Reporting & Accounting Advisory Services Presentation

 Dredging Contractors

Mrs Jiska Verhulst – Sustainability Director, DEME Presentation

Open Floor Discussion (Approx. 15 – 20 min)

View the Conference Progra mme and the Conference Key Messages in detail.