€80bn needed to boost Europe’s ports

This is the finding of the 2024 study by the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) into port investment. The study looks at 84 port authorities across the continent, exploring their role, their investment needs and the challenges they face.

Ports in Europe do more than before, says ESPO, with some notable findings about the changing priorities. Investments in sustainability and the energy transition are becoming far more important, for example, and are now second only to port expansion.

“This updated Port Investments Study clearly shows that the changing and wider role of ports today comes with new and wider responsibilities and investment needs,” said ESPO Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost.

“It often means investment with a less predictable return on investment. To live up to the tasks and responsibilities that are assigned to them in the new geopolitical and geo-economic context, ports need support.”

From being multimodal hubs in the supply chain, ports are developing into hubs and facilitators of sustainable energies, clusters of industry and circular economy, as well as important pillars of geo-political and geo-economic resilience, says ESPO.

These new functions are in addition to, not instead of, their traditional roles. Ports are more and more focused on strategic and social responsibilities which can mean low or risky returns on investment.

ESPO is therefore urging policymakers to recognise these changing pressures and ports’ increasing strategic importance by providing robust support that addresses the investment challenges they face.