Climate change 

A study by a Frankfurt-based group estimates the costs of natural disasters during 2020 at 210 billion dollars, emphasising the effects of rising sea levels in China and the Pacific Ocean. Coastlines are particularly affected. Unless they adopt energy transition measures, ports dependent on hydrocarbon traffic will be affected by a drop in their trade; Amsterdam (Holland) has taken the message to heart and wants to increase cargo movement by getting greener. For the sake of the associated cities, port-related traffic also needs to reduce hydrocarbon consumption to avoid both economic and ecological disaster: for example, in Lagos (Nigeria) congestion costs 55 million dollars every year, and the city government is now diversifying to reduce road traffic into the port. Other developing countries have already introduced initiatives to this end, for example a programme in Cotonou (Benin), in cooperation with AFD, which should be completed in 2021; or the coastal protection megaproject in the port of Khulna (Bangladesh), the second largest in the country (after Chittagong): the Bengali authorities consider that it is essential for the survival of the south-west of the country.

➜ The Medi Telegraph ; Offshore Energy ; Jeune Afrique ; AFD.fr ; Dhaka Tribune