IMF, University of Oxford Launch “PortWatch” platform to monitor, simulate trade disruptions

The International Monetary Fund IMF, in collaboration with University of Oxford researchers have launched a new online portal “PortWatch”, a platform to monitor and simulate trade disruptions due to climate extremes and other shocks. IMF in a statement issued in Washington D.C “using satellite-based vessel data and big data analytics, the platform will help policymakers, analysts, and other public stakeholders assess the impact of disruptions to maritime trade. Users can simulate the potential indirect spillover effects of port disruptions to other countries in the maritime network and global supply chains. Key features of the platform include timely indicators on actual and expected trade disruptions in affected countries; simulation of international spillover effects from actual and hypothetical disasters; and climate scenario analysis facilitating the identification of vulnerabilities within the maritime trade network.

“PortWatch aims to provide actionable, data-driven insights about how shocks such as extreme weather events and disasters impact trade and supply chains. The platform’s innovative data sources and visualisation tools are designed to help facilitate international dialogue and inform policy decisions,”said Bert Kroese, IMF Chief Statistician, Data Officer, and Director of the Statistics Department. Shocks to trade and supply chains can propagate rapidly around the world, leading to economic disruptions and real impacts for people. Using PortWatch we can track shipping disruption at ports and in critical shipping lanes around the world, providing up-to-date information for decision makers,” said Jim Hall, University of Oxford Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks.

It said that PortWatch was selected as one of the winners of the 2022 IMF Climate Innovation Challenge, which fosters innovation and collaboration to tackle economic and financial issues related to climate change. It is a collaborative project between the IMF and the Environment Change Institute at the University of Oxford. Cutting-edge climate risk analytics from Oxford University researchers were embedded within the platform. The platform was developed in collaboration with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the United Nations Global Platform (UNGP), the World Bank (WB), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and has benefitted from seed funding by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).