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04 June 2021 Written by Regina Asariotis, Article No. 75 [UNCTAD Transport and Trade Facilitation Newsletter N°90 – Second Quarter 2021]

Seaports are essential for global trade-led development, and for the ‘Blue Economy’. They provide access to global markets and supply-chains for all countries, and are integral to maritime transport, as well as fisheries, offshore energy development, and many economic activities in coastal zones. With over 80 % of world trade volume carried by sea – from port to port -, they are crucial infrastructure nodes that  underpin global supply chains and are key to future trade and development prospects, particularly of developing States which currently account for around  60 % of goods loaded and unloaded globally. At the same time, ports are particularly exposed to various natural hazards, due to their locations along open coasts or in low-lying estuaries and deltas; their setting makes them susceptible to impacts of climatic hazards such as rising sea levels, storm surges, waves and winds,  riverine and pluvial flooding, as well as  tectonic events (e.g. tsunamis).