Stakeholder perceptions and involvement in the implementation of EMS in ports in Vietnam and Cambodia Xuan-Quynh Le a, * , Van-Hieu Vu b , Luc Hens c , Bas Van Heur a a Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium b Department of Human Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium c Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO), B-3400 Mol, Belgium article info Article history: Received 19 July 2012 Received in revised form 22 May 2013 Accepted 18 July 2013 Available online 26 July 2013 Keywords: EMS Pollution Seaport South East Asia Stakeholder involvement abstract To tackle environmental issues and ensure compliance with regulations, three ports in Vietnam and two ports in Cambodia implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS). The first steps of the EMS were completed during the period 2006e2007, with the establishment of the Port Environmental Policy, the Register of Environmental Aspects and an EMS Programme. Priorities in environmental protection have been identified for each of the ports. The initial assessment of the EMS, based on the documented EMS, was completed by experts from the ECOPORT Foundation, who issued a Port Envi- ronmental Review System (PERS) certificate for the ports. This paper presents an assessment of the implementation of the EMS through the eyes of various groups of port stakeholders. The second focus is on the manner of involving stakeholders in the EMS process, which has stakeholder participation as one of its core principles. The assessment was done via interviews with the environmental coordinators or managers at each port, as well as key port stakeholders. Eight groups of stakeholders are identified and classified into internal/external and voluntary/involuntary categories. Their salience is then assessed based on their legitimacy, power, urgency and proximity. The findings show that while ports are perceived as sources of environmental problems, they are also seen as important economic powerhouses. EMS is therefore needed at the ports to ensure their environmental performance is in line with their economic contribution. However, ports generally view other stakeholders as outsiders and exclude them from the process of designing environmental protection measures. Even though the stakeholders are strongly interested in contributing more to the process, there is no concrete plan for involving them in the management of the port. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Seaports have significant impacts on the environment due to their strategic position as seaeland contact points. Most ports are situated in or near sensitive ecosystems, such as estuaries and wetlands. Consequently, almost all port activities can be associated with environmental impacts: water pollution due to harmful sub- stances emitted from ports and ships (e.g. antifouling agents and cargo spillage); soil and sediment pollution due to dredging; air pollution due to ship and port industry emission; and habitat loss due to port development (Bailey and Solomon, 2004; ESPO, 2005a; Tzannatos, 2010). Under more and more stringent environmental rules, port development is increasingly constrained by these impacts. On the other hand, ports also have an important economic role, as they are pivotal in international cargo traffic. Modern ports are increasingly deviating more and more from their traditional transport hub role towards new opportunities and added value activities. They are transforming into industrial hubs, where sig- nificant employment and financial benefits are generated (ESPO, 2005b; Notteboom, 2009). Elkington (1997) in his visionary book “Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business” promotes corporate responsibility where all three pillars of sustainable developmentdnamely environmental, social and economic considerationsdshould be taken into account (the Triple Bottom Line [TBL] principle). The book asserts that businesses play a crucial role in the progress towards achieving sustainability, and * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ32 26293185. E-mail address: Le.XuanQuynh@vub.ac.be (X.-Q. Le). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro 0959-6526/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.032 Journal of Cleaner Production 64 (2014) 173e193