Climate change impacts to ports and maritime supply chains

Abstract

Climate change poses significant threats to global security and trade. This special issue identifies key challenges faced by ports and supply chains from climate change over the next century, with perspectives from researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers who have expertise in ports, supply chains, and natural hazards. Many ports regularly experience natural hazard events and about a third of the world's ports lie in the path of tropical storms (Becker et al. 2012). Climate change will likely amplify the impacts of future coastal hazards for many of the world's 3,700 maritime ports (Verschuur, Koks, and Hall 2020) and their supply chains that enable global and local commerce. Indeed, ports fulfill a wide variety of critical functions for the local, regional, and global economy (Hall 2007; Baird 2004; Goss 1990). They provide jobs, facilitate trade, and serve as links between the hinterlands (back region) and the forelands (seaward region) of their markets. Most coastal cities grew around a port hub and global trade routes then evolved into a network that now connects port cities across the world. This 'inter-connectedness' means that even a short-term loss of port capacity (e.g., due to a natural disaster) can cause local and global ripple effects in logistics and trade-dependent industries (Becker et al. 2018; Lim-Camacho et al. 2017; Levermann 2014), such as imported food, energy, and assembled products. Projected climate changes include an increase in the frequency and intensity of 'extreme' atmospheric events-shocks such as storms, heavy precipitation, and heat waves (USGCRP 2017; NCA 2014); as well as longer-term changes to climatic variables resulting in 'slow onset' changes like sea level rise, wave climatology, and sea-surface salinity (leading to higher rates of corrosion). In the last 15 years, attention to these issues has increased in both the academic and practitioner spheres. However, as recently as the late 2000's, most ports primarily considered climate change to be a call to reduce their emissions and go green. To provide a resource for best practices, the World Port Climate Initiative formed to help ports quantify their carbon footprint and implement various emissions-reduction strategies. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency developed new programs to help ports offset some of the costs for these new clean investments. These efforts may help reduce the rate of global warming, but as awareness of the implications of climate change has grown and the science has evolved, ports and supply chains have begun to recognize the dire situation they will face in the coming decades. A number of maritime industry groups have thus added 'climate adaption' to their agenda. Guidance documents have emerged, with lessons learned and best practices highlighted. The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC), for example, recently released the Resilience of the Maritime and Inland Waterborne Transport System, to 'provide a summary of the state of knowledge concerning the shor...

Port Adaptation and Efficiency: An Empirical Study of Ghanaian Ports

“…Figure1. Factors that affect port adaptation Source: Author (2021) Based on literature from (Becker, 2020).…”

“…The past and future adaptation scores for each port were calculated based on questionnaires and interviews respectively. The variables were collated based on plausible factors affecting climate change adaptation; organizational factors, community change, port infrastructure, and operational factors (Becker, 2020).…”

“…A commendable climate adaptation does not only focus on the improvement of ports infrastructure but involves organizational, operational, and community change (Becker, 2020). Obtaining a (p<.05) for future port efficiency and adaptation based on different variables of adaptation strategies depict the fact that adaptation takes into account not only the infrastructural improvements of the ports but other invisible variables.…”

Management Logistics Maritime: A Literature Review

“…They also underscore the potential of technological innovations, like blockchain, to address longstanding inefficiencies and foster a more integrated, transparent, and efficient maritime supply chain. The current trend in the maritime industry is the increasing risk within its supply chains [21]. Disruptions have been critical for many companies [22], Recently, there has been a growing emphasis on the need to study supply chain risks and their management further [23] [24], Some of the essential aspects of Logistics Management maritime are: 1) Transport and distribution logistics in the maritime business involve identifying efficient routes, selecting appropriate transportation, and planning ideal routes.…”

Rapid seaward expansion of seaport footprints worldwide

“…For such valuable infrastructural assets, seaports are precariously exposed to coastal natural hazards. Recent research has shown that seaport and maritime supply chain exposure to multiple climate-driven natural hazards is geographically heterogeneous, with hotspots of risk concentrated in cyclone corridors [3][4][5][6] . But even for seaports where the current risk of disruption from natural hazards is relatively low 3 , functional risk to seaport infrastructure and operations is expected to increase before 2050 4,7 .…”