july2017

224 225 certification, and we are getting requests from companies and ports from outside North Amer- ica. So that would be a big step for us.We don’t want to lose our focus on North America, so it’s an important strategic decision to decide, or not, to allow other companies and ports outside North America to get their Green Marine certifi- cation. So, we need to think carefully of how we do this if we decide to do it. “Other than that, we keep developing the program; we keep adding environmental issues that are important to the industry. So, for the near future, we plan on working, for example, on ship recycling, and on social license for port authorities.We plan on adding more metrics, like being able to calculate the number of tons of GHGs (Green House Gasses) that were re- duced over the years thanks to the program.” BVM: How do you reach out to, and stay in touch with, your members? Bolduc: “The conference is our main tool to stay in touch with our members and be able to see them face-to-face. This is an annual confer- ence – every year in a different city. It will be in Florida, this year, for the first time.We’ve been to Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Seattle, and Vancou- ver, for example. But we also have a lot of working groups and advisory committees. Some of them are face-to-face; others are on the phone because of distance.We also have regional offices–one in Seattle, that I mentioned, and one in Halifax. That helps cover more ground. “Sometimes we have a critical mass of mem- bers in one region and usually we try to create an advisory committee there, and have face-to- face meetings. So, this is one thing that I hope will be happening, soon; we are seeing more and more members, now, in the southern United GREEN MARINE States, on the Gulf Coast, in Florida. Hopefully, we’ll be able to create an advisory committee there and maybe, eventually, have an employee in the region.” BVM: How do you see the landscape for the industry, as a whole, over the coming decade, and how will Green Marine continue to be an important program for those people who partici- pate? Bolduc: “Sustainability and environmental issues are not going away. And if there’s more business and industrial activity, and more peo- ple on the earth, pressure on the environment is there to stay. A lot of people are asking for cleaner air, cleaner water, and in the long-term, we want the business to grow, but we want it to grow in a sustainable way. So, this need will remain– for communities, especially. “Sometimes, maybe, you lose sight of the global issues, but you never lose sight of the local issues. For example, communities living around large ports will continue to see, close- up, the impact of this industrial activity; and they will continue asking the ports and com- panies to continue growing their businesses - because it’s beneficial for their prosperity - but to do it in a sustainable way. And I think that Green Marine will be even more important in the future, because it’s a new way of conducting business. That’s how I see it.” (Note: The annual conference in Fort Lauderdale was May 30 to June 1. The next one, in 2018, will be in Van- couver BC.)