With 300 mm of torrential rain falling in the space of 24 hours in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the port city of Durban has suffered significant loss of life. The country’s main commercial port has been severely affected by this extreme climatic phenomenon. In view of the damage, the port authority Transnet, the municipality of eThekwini, the provincial government and the energy company Eskom are all working together very closely. Thanks to their coordinated collective efforts, operations were able to resume in part of the port from 14 April.

“River transport has unrivalled economic potential and environmental advantages” (CEI document, 2021). Yet 85% of freight in the Seine valley goes by road. In view of this, the Greater Paris Metropolitan Authority, the City of Paris, the Rouen Normandy Metropolitan Authority, and the Le Havre Seine Metropolitan Authority, have all joined forces to launch the first CEI to develop low-carbon urban and river logistics in their territories. The application phase is open from April to June, with the results due for publication in September, and projects starting in the autumn.

Arup has recently conducted a snapshot of several global cities – Auckland (New Zealand), London (UK), Mumbai (India), Nairobi (Kenya), New York (USA), Shanghai (China), and Singapore – to measure their ‘sponginess’. Spongy cities are urban areas with abundant natural areas intended to absorb rain and prevent flooding. As the latest IPCC report has warned of increased climate shocks, sponge cities are beneficial as they decrease flooding and drought risks. The vegetation and lakes can hold both excess water but also store water in dry, hot weather.

Cities can take action to increase their sponginess and natural resistance like Shenzhen (China) has. Digital mapping tools can allow cities to gauge the best use of their available space to increase resilience.

The African Natural Resources Centre, the African Development Bank, and various local stakeholders met on 30 March, to explore ways of integrating African ports more effectively into the blue economy.  
The participants, including representatives from the African Union Development Agency, governments, and regional bodies, agreed on the urgent need to develop national strategies on the sustainable management and use of marine and coastal resources for economic growth.  The African Union is already working on a pan-African strategy for the blue economy, which will allow measures to be deployed inclusively on a continent-wide scale. 
These issues will be central to discussions at our world conference on Tangier, from 11 to 13 May. We look forward to seeing you there! 

“NAMIRS”, which stands for “North Adriatic Maritime Incident Response System”, is a cross-border cooperation project between Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia, aimed at limiting accidental marine pollution, such as that caused by oil spills in the North Adriatic. NAMIRS is intended to strengthen preparedness and coordination between the countries concerned, allowing a joint response. This should improve the ability to prevent and protect against the effects of such disasters. The project, which is co-funded by the EU Commission and coordinated by the Central European Initiative (CEI), was unveiled in Trieste on 31 March.