A new study (💲) commissioned by Lloyd’s Register, a shipping services group, says a third of the world’s 3,800 ports are “located in a tropical band vulnerable to the most powerful effects of climate change”.
Some of the at-risk ports include:
- 🇨🇳 Shanghai (43.19 million containers moved in 2022)
- 🇺🇸 Houston (3.9 million containers), and
- 🇲🇽 Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico (1.7 million containers).
The report says a 40cm sea rise could render some ports unusable by 2050.
What to do? The study calls for more investment in resilience, including flood defence systems like the one built along the Thames in the 1970s-80s.
Intrigue’s take: Bit by bit, the global economy is adapting to what it sees over the horizon. The shipping sector’s International Maritime Organization just adopted a revised net-zero emissions target of around 2050.
But this Lloyd’s Register report suggests cutting emissions in the sector ain’t enough on its own; more ports may need bigger floodwalls, sooner.
Also worth noting:
- The maritime sector accounts for around 3% of global emissions.
