Commercial ports are vital to global trade but face pressure to adopt sustainable practices to address their environmental and social impacts. While sustainable practices can enhance competitiveness and profitability, challenges such as financial burdens and fragmented policies hinder their widespread adoption. The aim of the study was to investigate sustainable business practices that are implemented at commercial ports in South Africa. The study looked at the nature of these practices, enablers, and barriers to their implementation. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilising semi-structured interviews with 17 participants from eight commercial ports. Thematic analysis identified six key themes, namely, environmental sustainability, energy and resource efficiency, sustainable infrastructure and innovation, economic sustainability and competitiveness, social responsibility and community engagement, and governance, policy and regulation. These themes were categorised into the Environmental, Social, and Governance dimensions of sustainability. Environmental business practices implemented included management of waste, air quality monitoring, biodiversity management, soil and groundwater monitoring programmes, energy management system (i.e., ISO 50001 certification), renewable energy and alternative water supply (desalination plants), sustainable designs for new infrastructure, and the consideration of environmental requirements for all new capital expenditure projects through the Project Lifecycle Process. Social business practices included Corporate Social Investments and Community Engagements that created economic and social value for the local community. The National Ports Act governs commercial ports in South Africa and mandates balancing port development with environmental protection, aligning port management with sustainable development, and promoting sustainability practices supported by the country's environmental legislation. Although several sustainable business practices are implemented in South Africa's commercial ports, this research found no evidence of a Port Sustainability framework or that sustainability performance is measured; therefore, the study recommends developing the Port Sustainability Framework and a tool to measure sustainability performance across South Africa’s eight commercial ports to track progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- Sustainable business practices in commercial ports
- Cebile Phiwokuhle Nzuza
- David Pooe
- University of Johannesburg; Master of Arts (MA)
- Master of Arts (MA), University of Johannesburg
- 9964802907691
- University of Johannesburg
- University of Johannesburg; College of Business & Economics (CBE); School of Management
- English
- Thesis