IHCantabria and Puertos del Estado develop a new tool to assess climate risks in the port system

The assessment of climate risks in the Spanish port sector is a strategic priority to ensure the resilience of essential infrastructures for the national economy, through which more than 60% of exports and 85% of imports transit.

The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria) is developing a methodological framework for the preliminary analysis of climate risks in the entire State-owned Port System (SPTE), through the development of a parameterized and multilevel tool that serves as a basis for decision-making on climate risk adaptation and management.

Climate change poses both physical threats, due to the intensification of extreme phenomena, the rise in sea level or alterations in waves, and operational threats, by affecting the continuity of logistics and supply chains. In this context, Puertos del Estado has contracted IHCantabria to develop a homogeneous methodology for climate risk assessment that allows, in later phases, the definition of specific adaptation plans for Port Authorities (AAPP).

This work will be aligned with the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC 2021-2030) and the Strategic Framework of the State-owned Port System, as well as with the guidelines set by the European Commission on sustainable reporting and financing. Specifically, it will meet the requirements of Climate Proofing, and the technical criteria of the European Taxonomy of sustainable activities.

The analysis will be strategically, functionally and technically linked to the future Port Climate Change Observatory (OPCC), promoted by Puertos del Estado (PdE) in coordination with the Public Administrations, and will aim to strengthen the resilience of the Spanish port system to the impacts of climate change.

In order to achieve the general objective of the project, a multilevel risk analysis methodology will be developed, adapted both to the strategic management of Puertos del Estado and to the operational application by the Port Authorities. This methodology will integrate the components of hazard, exposure and vulnerability, consistent with the international standards of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the PNACC.

Finally, the project seeks to identify and systematize adaptation measures through a technical catalog of structural, operational and organizational solutions, and to strengthen the common knowledge base of the port sector. This last objective aims to ensure a homogeneous understanding of climate risk among the different public authorities, operators and technicians, favoring coordinated, informed and efficient decision making, aligned with European frameworks.

On November 11, the President of Puertos del Estado, Gustavo Santana Hernández, inaugurated the day of presentation of the project to the directors of the Public Administrations. In the session, Iñigo J. Losada, Research Director of IHCantabria, presented the main challenges and opportunities that climate change poses to port management, such as the incorporation of climate scenarios in decision-making and adaptive territorial planning for the design of more resilient infrastructures. Likewise, Javier López Lara, Head of the Climate Risk, Adaptation and Resilience Group of IHCantabria, together with Antonio Góngora, Head of the Physical Environment Area of Puertos del Estado, presented the work plan that will guide the development of this analysis tool.

This project is part of the actions planned to respond to the challenges published in the Assessment of Risks and Impacts derived from Climate Change in Spain (ERICC-2025, https://ericc.adaptecca.es/), aimed at identifying and characterizing the risks associated with climate change in Spain in the 14 economic sectors defined by the PNACC, and in whose preparation IHCantabria has also participated.