Cities and ports working together to mitigate and adapt to climate change

Cover photo: Tagus estuary, in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Bernardo Ferreira (BernardoUPloud), in Pixabay Recent research published by international organizations linked to the UN, such as the IPCC, indicates that sea levels could rise by 61 to 110 cm by the year 2100, compared to 1990. This means that coastal areas, where there is also greater demographic pressure, will be even more vulnerable to extreme weather events, such as flooding. This phenomenon can have devastating consequences for port cities, where, in addition to large concentrations of population and wealth, essential functions for the functioning of the global economy are hosted. For this reason, adaptation to climate change is the number one objective of the AIVP Agenda 2030 for cities and ports. Preparing Ports and Port Cities for Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation To respond to this challenge, as Prof. Austin Becker points out in his article, a dual strategy needs to be developed. On the one hand, efforts must be intensified to reduce or eliminate polluting emissions that contribute to global warming, and on the other, clear measures must be taken to adapt coastal territories to these new conditions that will intensify in the coming decades. Innovative cases such as San Diego, eThekwini, Dunkirk, Le Havre, Trois Riviere or Rotterdam, are leading these efforts to adapt and mitigate climate change, as we will see in this dossier. Building with nature: solutions…