Development of climate resilient ports : achieving viable and efficient investments in landlord container terminals

Being nodal points in global supply chain network, port operations disrupted by adverse climate change impacts would bear substantial costs. Therefore, adapting ports to climate change and building their climate resilience are essential. However, the needs may not have been adequately acknowledged by port stakeholders. A series of problem explorations at the start of the study identified three barriers that have hindered them to sufficiently adapt their ports to climate change. The barriers are (1) unavailability of an effective general best practice of climate adaptation for ports, (2) uncertainty regarding the viability and efficiency of climate adaptation investments in ports and (3) unclarity about which port stakeholders are responsible for financing the adaptation. To contribute in addressing the barriers, using the landlord container terminal as a unit of analysis, this thesis explored the following research question: “Under what conditions and how can viable and efficient investments in climate resilient ports be achieved?”. An extensive literature review of climate risks, opportunities and adaptation in ports was conducted to identify the observed and potential impacts of climate change on container terminals, as well as the currently available adaptation measures for them. Then, an assessment framework for approximating the financially viable and efficient climate adaptation option in a port was constructed by integrating Weather Value at Risk and Real Options Analysis methods. Afterwards, the possible strategies for allocating responsibilities for developing climate resilient container terminals among port stakeholders were recognized by reviewing (1) the existing contractual protections against climate risks in landlord container terminal partnerships and (2) the barriers to incorporate effective allocation of climate risks into the partnerships. Moreover, as an answer to the research question, seven climate risk management practices in ports and six recommended actions for port stakeholders are presented.