A Frontier Approach to Eco-Efficiency Assessment in the World's Busiest Sea Ports

The maritime economy is at the forefront of unprecedented sustainability challenges. Addressing ecological externalities in port operations supports the decarbonization goals of the United Nations (UN) Climate Action program and port city transition towards resilient and sustainable urban units. This research brings out an empirical assessment of seaport performance from an eco-environmental point of sustainability with a non-parametric analysis. Most common indicators from the cross-sectoral Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database for the 21 world's busiest seaports are used for the analysis. This research integrates four different models with the inputs CO2 emission, electricity consumption, waste, and water consumption; and the outputs employees, revenue, and container throughput. Projection pathways are established for inefficient seaports to improve sustainability performance. The analysis shows that the seaports of Qingdao and Cartagena are the most sustainably performing seaports under the selected maritime sustainability indicators. This research supports port managers in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their operations and helps frame strategic policies toward achieving overall sustainability in the maritime industry across SDG 14 (marine ecosystem) and SDG 13 (climate mitigation) goals of the 2030 Urban Agenda.