Fifty ports officials from all across the globe have confirmed the increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events, with climate change being touted as the driving force.
The survey, which has been organised by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) on behalf of the Navigating a Changing Climate (NaCC) initiative, will gather high-level data on costs and consequences of extreme weather events at the ports.
According to the lead co-ordinator of the survey and environmental consultant, Jan Brooke, the survey is to gauge the current impact extreme weather conditions have on port infrastructure and operational downtime.
"Last year, the NaCC partners identified that a lack of data on the consequences of inaction is a potential barrier to justifying investment in improving climate-resilience. So we devised this survey in order to gauge just how much impact extreme weather and oceanographic events are having on ports around the world," said Brooke.
More than half of the respondents consider the effects of these extreme-weather induced closures and downtime to be ‘significant' or 'critical’, with damage repair and extra maintenance costing anywhere between $100,000 and $10,000,000.
Jan Brooke will present the full report of the survey during the IAPH2020 World Ports Conference in Antwerp, Belgium on 18 March 2020.
The survey remains open for all ports until 20th December. - Bjorn Vorster
