Developing a Holistic Oil Port Sustainability Framework: A Case of China

Abstract

The global trading environment is changing dramatically, especially in the recent years. Driven by the increasing frequency and scale of trading, as well as the desire to meet the handling demand and to sustain development, the competition between port’s productivity and the pursuits of regional and international influences is becoming significantly severe. This fact has brought, and is still bring consequences to the balance between different sections at port. For instance, the conflicts between environmental and social section issues, which are led by the increasing pressure from multiple perspectives (e.g. environmental pollution, lack of maintenance, interest parties’ disputes). Under these circumstances, the disputes between economic development, social benefits, as well as the environmental protection at port have attracted many people’s attention. However, no holistic framework is forwarded as a ‘guidance’, or ‘measurement’, to cover most crucial matters from every section to help evaluate the sustainability performance at ports. In the previous literature, each section has only been individually researched in terms of the current performance at port. The lack of a ‘holistic framework’ is a potential hinder to maintain and develop ports in a sustainable way.