ESPO position paper on climate change adaptation
European Ports welcome European action on climate change adaptation. As any one of the myriad current extreme weather events demonstrate, climate change is serious and already poses an existential threat to our society. While Europe as a whole occupies a privileged position compared to certain climate-affected regions, Europe’s ports are particularly vulnerable to the disastrous effects of climate change. Ports experience the negative effects from global warming first-hand, from rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions to erosion.
The European Sea Ports Organisation is the principal interface between European seaports and the European institutions and its policy makers. ESPO represents the port authorities, port associations and port administrations of the seaports of 22 Member States of the European Union and Norway at EU political level. ESPO also has observer members in Iceland, Israel, Ukraine and United Kingdom. In 2009 ESPO set up a joint office with EFIP, the European Federation of Inland Ports.