How Extreme Weather Affects Insurance Claims
On Thursday 24 April 2025 Yue Shi will hold a trial lecture on a prescribed topic and defend her thesis for the PhD degree at NHH.
Climate and customers – taking a toll on shipping
The annual conference of IAME (International Association of Maritime Economists) gathered in Bergen and at NHH this year. They learned that environmentally conscious cargo owners and climate itself is likely to put a premium cost on the business.
With ever more integrated value chains, industries are likely to increase their attention to carbon emissions in the whole chain of production, shipping included. Ports across the world must also invest heavily in preparations for more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. In short, shipping and logistics will get more expensive according to keynote speakers at IAME 2025.
No escape from scope 3
Suzanne Green, in charge of sustainable purchases at international chemical company Dow made the case that in integrated, modern industrial value chains, the major share of climate gas emissions happens in what we know as “Scope 3”, i.e. emissions outside any one company in the chain. For Dow, scope 3 accounts for 72 percent of the total climate footprint of its products. Dow thus faces demands for action both within and outside its own lines of production. Transport and shipping bought by Dow are heavily dependent on non-renewable energy. “We need logistics to de-carbonize. But, to decarbonize scope 3, you must pay a premium”, she said. Her main challenge is to make the business case for this premium to Dow’s customers. She adds that that she has noted a rising will amongst customers to do so.
Resilient ports and greater risks
Regina Asariotis is the head of trade logistics at the UN’s organization for international trade, UNCTAD. She added further costs to the bill of shipping in the future. With 80 percent of global trade going by sea, making ports and infrastructure more resilient to climate change and cutting emissions will be key objectives. - With a rise in global temperature by two degrees, we will see 100-years flooding taking place every decade, she pointed out, adding that transport infrastructure must thus be climate resilient by 2050. She also predicted that more extreme weather would lead to an increase in incidents involving damages and loss of cargo, with no single party being at fault. - This risk has to be balanced and shared between parties. Here is much to consider for economists, she added.
Accolade for the “grand old lady” of maritime economics
Professor Emerita at NHH, Siri Pettersen Strandenes, opened the conference with an historic overview of the development of the research in the economics of shipping. For NHH it started properly in 1958 when an endowment from shipowner Erling Dekke Næss made it possible to establish an institute for shipping economics. Today the work is continued by the Centre for Shipping and Logistics, the “home” of several researchers, PhD scholars and master’s students.
Strandenes also received accolades from a long-time supporter of the shipping and logistics research at NHH, the Bergen Ship Owners’ Association and its CEO, Trygve Nøkleby and professor of economic history and outgoing vice-rector of NHH, Stig Tenold. Nøkleby said Strandenes had been instrumental in bringing together academia and the shipping industry. - Siri has been a trusted voice, so thanks for your leadership and commitment, he said. Tenold thanked Strandenes for their cooperation spanning more than two decades. He also praised her as an inspiration for many female members of faculty. – Siri made NHH a better and more diverse place to work, he said.
Commenting on the praise, Siri Strandenes, says that key to the growing standing of shipping and maritime economics has always been to stay in close contact with the shipping industry itself. She adds that the most important thing now is the rise of researchers and academics in the field from Asia, particularly Singapore and China. - They are now at the cutting edge, she says.
PHD CANDIDATE from NHH WINS JUNIOR RESEARCHER AWARD
Vegard Enerstvedt, PHD Candidate at the Department of Business and Management Science won the Junior Researcher Award at IAME 2025. He was one of seven finalists presenting papers at a pre-conference pitch before a jury. Enerstvedt won the award for an article that examines practices in the shipping industry on how best to estimate port delays, or “port-margin” as it is called. The industry practice is to add half a day, while Enerstvedt’s linear model considering such factors as localization, season and climatic conditions makes a far better prediction, potentially saving significant sums of money for the industry.
Environmental economists gather at NHH
More than 750 researchers, policymakers and industry experts are gathered in Bergen to discuss pressing questions in environmental and resource economics.