Nature Positive Role of the Ports Sector

Foreword The World Economic Forum’s Future of Nature and Business report estimates that more than half the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services, meaning companies and investors cannot afford to delay actions to reverse climate change and prevent nature loss any longer. While the 2015 Paris Agreement and the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework have provided governments and businesses with goals and targets, industries need sectoral guidance on strategic ways forward. This is particularly true when it comes to preventing nature loss, which poses an inherently complex set of issues to tackle. Global trade is reliant on the successful operation of a complex, interconnected system of supply chains, government bodies and private sector organizations, working together across borders to ensure the safe transport of vital goods and services to hundreds of millions of people around the world. As our climate changes, higher temperatures, rising sea levels and more frequent and severe weather patterns will increasingly expose vulnerabilities in our infrastructure systems. Due to their proximity to both land and ocean, ports – particularly in small island developing states and the Global South – are uniquely impacted by these changes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that if we continue on current projected trends, sea levels are expected to rise by 29-51 cm by 2100.1 Without major mitigating intervention, a 40 cm rise in sea levels could possibly render the ports of Houston, Shanghai and Lazaro Cardenas completely unusable. In order to meet these emerging threats, we must transform current approaches to port management and operations towards a culture that actively protects, restores and enhances natural ecosystems at scale. Nature Positive: Role of the Port Sector explores the contribution of the sector to climate change and nature loss, including the impact of land and sea use, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, etc. The report articulates a shared vision for a nature-positive port sector, offering an actionable framework for government departments, engineering and construction firms and shipping companies to make evidence-based decisions that will improve the resilience and sustainability of ports, now and into the future. Like all critical infrastructures, ports are part of bigger social, technical and physical systems. By engaging a diverse group of sectoral experts, including Lloyd’s Register Foundation and China Oceanic Development Foundation, this report ensures that recommendations are made with the safety of people at their heart. The international community must take these insights and do everything it can to anticipate and mitigate these systemic risks to ports, build resilience and ensure a nature-positive future for global trade.Thomas Thune Andersen Chairman, Lloyd’s Register FoundationPan Xinchun Secretary-General, China Oceanic Development Foundation Alfredo Giron Head, Ocean Action Agenda, World Economic Forum Nature Positive: Role of the Port Sector 4