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What can we learn about coping with climate change from the crash of the cargo ship Dali into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the US? Dali lost both engine power and its generator at the same time, leaving it adrift and unable to correct its course. The bridge was fully up to code when constructed in 1972, but the size of cargo ships has increased more than tenfold since then.
Dali had an experienced pilot who recognised the impending disaster. With just three minutes to act, he alerted authorities to close the bridge and took emergency measures to slow the ship, saving many lives. However, he was unable to prevent six deaths, the collapse of the bridge and the resulting closure of the nearby Baltimore port. Insurers now face claims of up to US$3 billion (RM14.13 billion).
The crash shines a spotlight on inherited physical and institutional infrastructure designed for different times and circumstances that leave us vulnerable as the world changes.
Today, experts and leaders are sounding warnings and attempting emergency action on climate change, global conflicts, emerging diseases and more. Yet governments, societies and economies are weighed down by inertia and seemingly ageing systems that are unable to avert disaster and limited in their ability to mitigate consequences in a poly-crisis world where failures in seemingly disparate systems — such as climate resilience and retirement savings — can coincide to create catastrophes faster than we can act.
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