Major European ports in climate resilience infrastructure project

The project is financed by the Horizon Europe programme and coordinated by the TU Delft and a multidisciplinary team of 21 partners from 10 European countries.

The aim of the project is to improve resilience and sustainability of European terminals in the face of climate-related challenges. With an EU contribution of around $8 million, the project has a duration of 48 months and will end in April 2028.

Related: The Panama Canal is ‘climate dependent’

Clarion will set ambitious targets to increase the operational availability of port infrastructures during extreme events, support modal shifts towards low-emission transport systems and reduce accidents caused by climate-related disturbances, to minimise environmental impact and ensure transferability of results.

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said that “we look forward to exchanging knowledge and lessons learned with our port colleagues and partners”.

“One of the goals of forward-looking port planning is to ensure the best possible safe and reliable accessibility to the port. The ability to continuously adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as climate change or extreme weather conditions, is very relevant in this context,” added Jens Meier, CEO of the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA).

“The physical risks of climate change are increasingly affecting our port infrastructure and assets, as well as those of our customers. The Port of Rotterdam is located largely outside the dikes, which makes it more vulnerable to sea level rise. We have a long-standing relationship with TU Delft in joint research and look forward to a fruitful cooperation leading to results that ports can implement from the coast to the hinterland,” said Boudewijn Siemons, Managing Director of the Port of Rotterdam.