Sustainability and resilience
In 1964, when UNCTAD was created, the risk of ecological disaster was hardly on the international agenda. Today, as we prepare for UNCTAD 16, persisting increases in greenhouse gas emissions threaten development progress and future generations’ opportunities to live in a sustainable world. Transport infrastructure, and in particular ports, are increasingly susceptible to climate-driven extremes, making adaptation and resilienceThe ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management -—
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—-. building increasingly urgent. We must change course. Continuing the trajectory of climate change, biodiversityBiodiversity refers to the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems -—
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—-. loss, pollution and ecosystems degradation will unravel progress on the SDGsSustainable Development Goals, exacerbating hunger, poverty, conflict, disasters, and health crises.
The Bridgetown Covenant -—
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—- emphasizes the need to enhance the sustainability and resilience of transport infrastructure and services, and to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. It advocates for promoting sustainable energy and providing developing countries access to environmentally sound technologies and recognises the importance of conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources, as key strategies for implementing the 2030 Agenda and achieving a sustainable economy. The two sections of this chapter discuss these sustainability and resilience issues drawing on SDGSustainable Development Goal indicators and other official statistics:
- Uncertainty and disruptions are affecting maritime transport, its sustainability and resilience
- Emissions growth continues, threatening the Least Developed Countries the most
Weather and climate-driven extremes pose increasing risks for global ports, making adaptation, resilience-building and DRR an increasingly urgent imperative.
If all regions were able to reduce their carbon intensity of GDP to around 200 g/$, global annual emissions would reduce by nearly 45%.
70% of the world’s disaster fatalities occur in LDCs.
References
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