A client of mine was asking during our risk assessment “what if the sea level rises; would the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp still function”? Let’s have a quick look.
Because ports are usually located at the coast and close to rivers, these areas are extra sensitive to climate change. In the article “multi-hazard risk to global port infrastructure and resulting trade and logistics losses” published on 12-01-2023, researchers find that 86% of the ports worldwide is exposed to climate hazards, with the ports of Houston, and Shanghai in the top 3. Also, the port of Antwerp is in the top 20.
The port of Rotterdam is according to their website (“portofrotterdam.com”) well prepared and has a strategy per section of the large port how to deal with sea level rises. Also for the port of Antwerp sustainability is high on the agenda (“portofantwerpbruges.com”), and they are working on a more circular approach to deal with low and high water.
Ports will remain critical in our world economy, and they need to make sure they have plans in place for climate change adaptation.
For now, I think it is safe for my client to assume there will be limited impact on his supply-chain caused by sea level rise.