Earthquakes, El Nino and Climate Change

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Editorial by Geoffrey Lakings for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Striving to recover from the shocking earthquakes which struck Turkey and Syria recently (the aftermath becoming an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis for the region).

• CNN: Quake-hit Turkey and Syria face years of rebuilding. Experts say it didn't have to be this way
  
  
  
  "...days after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria the number of dead is staggering. Drone footage and satellite imagery have conveyed the stark reality of widespread destruction in an area that straddles two very different nations. The scale of the disaster is enormous. "We've done a bit of mapping of the size of the affected area," said Caroline Holt, director of disasters, climate and crises at the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). "It's the size of France."
  
  United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that "we haven't yet seen the full extent of the damage and of the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes," while estimates from the World Health Organization suggest up to 23 million people could be impacted by the natural disaster."

The world will now have to prepare for and be concerned about another El Nino year and its portent of other extreme weather events.

• The Guardian: Warning of unprecedented heatwaves as El Niño set to return in 2023:
  
  
  
  "Scientists say phenomenon coupled with growing climate crisis likely to push global temperatures 'off the chart'
  
  Early forecasts suggest El Niño will return later in 2023, exacerbating extreme weather around the globe and making it "very likely" the world will exceed 1.5C of warming. The hottest year in recorded history, 2016, was driven by a major El Niño."

As the world dealt with many severe, extreme weather events in 2022.

CGTN: Extreme weather did not spare 2022; instead it broke many records:


"Heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, floods and other extreme weather disasters managed to make headlines in 2022, even when the globe was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic." And, as these weather events worsen there is a focus to decarbonize hard to abate sectors -- in the belief it will mitigate such in the future.

• RMI: Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Industries: The Importance of a New Accounting Method:
  "Realizing the urgency to decarbonize the hard-to-abate industries to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, leading companies are gathering to harness their purchasing power to create market signals for low-carbon technologies and materials. However, questions arise as to the extent of these corporate climate ambitions to drive real decarbonization actions. Poor carbon data and calculation transparency is a key challenge hampering the impact of procurement decisions toward real emissions reductions. The current carbon accounting system has been criticized for not providing enough emissions transparency and comparability, leaving companies to guesstimate supplier's emissions.
  
  Horizon Zero, aimed at closing the gap between corporate climate ambition and industry decarbonization actions, is providing accounting guidance at the product level to bring emissions transparency to commodities from hard-to-abate industries."

For the world needs to worry about mitigating climate change -- which is a driver of these extreme weather events -- with a focus on clean energy transition projects to hopefully decarbonize the world economy.

• The Lancet: Less is more: "The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Risks report 2023 has identified failure to mitigate climate change, failure to adapt to climate change, natural disasters and extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and forced mass migration, as the top five global risks to society (and commerce) over the coming decade. It is unsurprising then that when business leaders, politicians, and other power brokers met in Davos, Switzerland, for the WEF annual conference this year, the global climate emergency and environmental crisis was top of the agenda. A consistent theme among business leaders in Davos was the call for more private investment in clean energy transition projects and into developing new technologies that will decarbonize the existing world economy. The glaring omission in this approach--and indeed in many government and private sector plans to mitigate climate change--is the wider issue of overconsumption of energy and other resources and the enormous inequalities in consumption levels globally."

Therefore, a necessary focus is on decarbonizing global supply chains--especially maritime: ports & shipping--that this world economy is so reliant on.

• UN: Ports, shipping need to go green to resist future global crises: UNCTAD: "Ships carry over 80 percent of the goods traded globally, with the percentage even higher for most developing countries; hence the urgent need to boost resilience to shocks that disrupt supply chains, fuel inflation and affect the poorest the most," the UN agency said in a new report on maritime transport.
  
  Between 2020 and 2021, UNCTAD also noted that carbon emissions from the world's maritime fleet increased by almost five per cent. At the same time, data indicated that the average age of the ships in service has increased, to almost 22 years."

As even here in the U.S. there is an importance placed on ports and their infrastructure.

• Industrial Info: Biden Administration Announces Grant Funding for Port Projects:
  "February 15, 2023--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) last week announced more than $660 million in grant funding for port projects through the agency's Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). The program aims to modernize U.S. ports, strengthen domestic supply chains and help applicants such as port authorities "complete critical port and port-related infrastructure projects." Industrial Info is tracking $25.6 billion in active capital projects at U.S. cargo ports."

For even the Port of Houston has its 2040 Plan.

• Port Houston 2040 Plan at a Glance:
  "The Four Cs of the 2040 Plan
  
  
  Port Houston's contributions in driving regional prosperity are encompassed in its diverse roles: as the local sponsor of the Houston Ship Channel, an operator of public terminals, a partner in the community, and a steward of sustainable growth. These roles are embodied in the 2040 Plan's key planning strategies known as the Four Cs -- Channel, Cargo, Community, and Change."

As the Center for Houston's Future has Strategic Initiatives pertaining to energy & sustainability.

• The Center is educating and raising awareness on climate change and the need to accelerate the speed of the energy transition: "Educate and raise awareness on climate change topics among the Houston business community and other thought leaders on a broad set of issues ranging from the current state of climate science to how investors are changing their strategies to address climate change."

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Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).