Reconciling needs; Ports and Climate Change

Abstract

The debate on climate change in relation to the ports and shipping sector has largely focused on their impacts rather than the question of adaptation and vulnerability. Limits to current levels of adaptation to existing climatic variation are demonstrated by the impacts and costs of society associated with extreme events such as floods, ice storms, droughts, and hurricanes (Burton et al. 2002). Assessing vulnerability, and therefore the resilience of social-ecological systems, such as ports, needs to take account of three dimensions: (i) real or potential impacts on the system, (ii) the systems' ability to cope and adapt to these impacts and (iii) the extent to which coping capacity may be constrained by environmental or societal conditions. In this context, this paper reflects on the results of a needs analysis conducted on the ports and shipping industry in order to explore what might be most relevant issues for the sector and its implications for future adaptation strategies. The paper reflects on the issues raised and argues that the key to building adaptive capacity is implementation of training packages focussed on vulnerability assessments.