ITF PUBLISHES REPORT ON RESILIENCE OF TRANSPORT SYSTEM
On 11 April, the OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF) issued a report on transport system resilience. Stemming from the discussions which took place at ITF’s roundtable on the topic on 14-15 September 2023, the report analyses the challenges of multiples crises affecting global transport supply chains and suggests recommendations to mitigate their consequences.
The report acknowledges that the transport sector currently faces simultaneous disruptions related to geopolitics, climate change and energy security. The consequences of these disruptions are exacerbated by the global interconnectedness of transport systems, most notably in maritime transport where regional disruptions such as the Red Sea crisis may spillover to other regions due to the global nature of shipping networks.
As the resilience of a transport system is defined by both its robustness to absorb potential disruptions and its capacity to recover to a “business as usual” situation, the report suggests that policies to make transport system more resilient should find the right balance between mitigation and adaptation measures: resilience should be a core objective of transport policy with its systematic integration in transport policy and planning; tools to help reduce uncertainty about future disruptions should be developed; guidance and contingency plans should be drawn and learn from best practices on robustness and recovery. Finally, global coordination of transport policy should help countries to effectively mitigate and adapt from disruptions.
The full report is accessible via this link. A webinar with its author Olaf Merk will be held on 23rd April 2024 at 14:30 CET to present and discuss the findings of the report. Registration is possible via this link.
Source: International Transport Forum