PIANC’s Think Climate Coalition has released its action plan, “Navigating a Changing Climate,” to outline the work committed by the partners of the initiative to help the inland and maritime navigation infrastructure sector respond to climate change.

In addition to growing the coalition to ensure more individuals have access to relevant, sector-specific technical and institutional resources, the Navigating a Changing Climate initiative has three main themes:

1. Encouraging owners, operators and users to take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with waterborne transport infrastructure, and to shift to low carbon waterborne transport infrastructure and operations, wherever this is practicable and not disproportionately costly
2. Building adaptation capacity and supporting the owners, operators and users of inland and maritime navigation infrastructure as they strengthen resilience and prepare to adapt to changes in sea level, flooding extent or frequency, flow conditions, storminess, precipitation, temperature, extreme wind or waves or fog amongst others
3. Encouraging new ways of thinking about waterborne transport infrastructure with an emphasis on Working with Nature and on identifying sustainable, integrated solutions.

The action plan comprises the commitment of the partners in both mitigation and adaptation of climate change. It also lays out the key principles that guides the initiative’s actions, including:

• Sustainability (s)
• Resilience (S)
• Integration (I)
• Work with Nature (W)

Navigating a Changing Climate is one of 14 initiatives being developed through the Transport Focus of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) under the leadership of Paris Process on Mobility and Climate (PPMC). The LPAA declaration, which was signed on 13^th December 2014, set out to mobilize global action on climate by supporting existing initiatives and providing a platform for the visibility of new partners’ actions, commitments and results in the run up to the COP21 meetings in Paris, France, in December 2015.

In line with the LPAA objectives, it engages a variety of actors (i.e. the Think Climate coalition) working together to build a concrete, ambitious and lasting cooperative initiative supported by a time-bound roadmap for implementation (i.e. our Navigating a Changing Climate Action Plan).  

Partners of PIANC’s Think Climate Coalition:

• The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC)               
• International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)
• International Harbour Masters’ Association (IHMA)
• International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA)
• International Bulk Terminals Association (IBTA) a coalition of the International Dry Bulk Terminals Group and the Coal Export Terminal Operators Association
• European Dredging Association (EuDA)
• Smart Freight Centre (SFC)

What’s been happening so far?

The work of the Think Climate coalition has been showcased by the PPMC on a number of occasions in the months leading up to the COP21, for example: 

• In a flyer entitled ‘Transport Initiatives Proposed in the Context of an Action Agenda on Transport and Climate Change’, prepared to highlight the ongoing work on transport under the LPAA
• As one of a number of voluntary climate transport actions contributing to the Global Goals on Sustainable Development: the work of the Think Climate coalition is highlighted in the 2015 Transport Commitments Report, Contribution of Transport Commitments and the Global Goals on Sustainable Development prepared by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT). 
• This SLoCaT assessment (click here) analyses the contribution that voluntary transport commitments such as the Navigating a Changing Climate initiative are making to the new Sustainable Development Goals that will guide global action on development in the next 15 years. 

In addition, PIANC and its partners in the Think Climate coalition have submitted various case studies to the ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ Campaign, an initiative of the Netherlands government and the PPMC.  Taking its theme from the classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, this Campaign aims to collect and showcase at least 100 examples of transport action on climate by the end of the COP21 meetings. 

The 80 Days Campaign features the following transport-climate-actions prepared by coalition partners:

• Navigating a Changing Climate  
• Working with Nature  
• Horseshoe Bend Atchafalaya Engineering with Nature project   
• Environmental Ship Index  

Upcoming Events

• End November 2015: publication of the Think Climate coalition’s Navigating a Changing Climate Action Plan (click here)
• 25^th November: the Navigating a Changing Climate Action Plan features on the PPMC website.  Take a look! 
• 25^th November: in the lead up to the COP21, Think Climate coalition activities introduced at a PIANC France seminar, Les acteurs français des infrastructures maritimes et fluviales face aux effets du changement climatique: Navigating a Changing Climate.  Details here.  
• 27^th November: also in the days prior to COP21, the Navigating a Changing Climate initiative highlighted at a PIANC UK seminar featuring the work of PIANC Working Group 178: Climate change adaptation for ports and inland navigation infrastructure.  Details here.  
• 30^th November to 11^th December: the Navigating a Changing Climate initiative features in various Transport Events at COP21 in Paris. 
• 3^rd December: Navigating a Changing Climate and the work of PIANC’s Think Climate coalition showcased by PPMC at the high level LPAA Transport Focus event in Paris – in particular in ‘Sequence Two: Transport’s Adaptation to Climate Change’.  Navigating a Changing Climate is one of the only LPAA transport initiatives focusing on adaptation and resilience strengthening. 
• 6^th December: formal launch of the Navigating a Changing Climate Action Plan at COP21 Transport Day. 
• 7^th December: Think Climate coalition’s Working with Nature and Engineering with Nature 80 Days submissions (see above) showcased at the event ‘Around the world in 80days climate action in transport of goods’. 

For more updates on PIANC’s Think Climate Coalition, please visit their website:

http://www.pianc.org/thinkclimate.php