OECD transport ministers gather to discuss transport resilience amid global trade uncertainties, climate change

Top transport officials from member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including South Korea, gathered in Germany on Wednesday to discuss measures to improve the resilience of the transport sector amid challenges involving global trade tensions and climate change.

The three-day 2025 International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit kicked off in the eastern German city of Leipzig under the theme “Transport Resilience to Global Shocks,” bringing together some 1,200 officials from more than 80 countries, including the United States, Germany and Chile.

This year’s event will focus on the international community’s efforts to respond to supply chain disruptions affecting the transport sector, from maritime to aviation transport, and tackle environmental and security challenges.

A special ministers’ roundtable session was also scheduled for discussions on joint efforts to support the swift recovery of Ukraine’s transport sector, devastated by its ongoing war with Russia.

“Today, certainty has given way to uncertainty and transport links, connecting the world, are under pressure,” ITF Secretary General Kim Young-tae said during a press conference at the Congress Center Leipzig.

Maritime transport moves around 75 percent of global cargo, but global supply chains are becoming “more vulnerable” as they have become “more connected,” Kim said.

There are also increasing threats of cyber attacks as many countries are investing heavily in digitizing their transport sectors, Kim added.

Threats involving climate change are also serious, Kim explained, noting that climate risks could disrupt the operations of some 40 percent of ports worldwide.

Asked about the impact of the recent rise of trade protectionism, led by the U.S. Donald Trump administration, Kim said the transport sector is passing through a “very difficult moment” due to tariff issues and other geopolitical tensions and is “definitely seeing impact.”

According to a report from global maritime consultancy Drewry, U.S. trade policies will likely lead to a 1 percent drop in global container shipping volume in 2025.

“That’s why platforms like the ITF should play a very efficient and productive role in gathering different views from different actors in the world,” Kim said.

Meanwhile, South Korean Transport Minister Park Sang-woo was set to attend the ministers’ roundtable on transport and climate change at the ITF summit to share the country’s policies aimed at promoting the use of public transportation.

Park was also scheduled to hold talks with infrastructure officials from Poland and Ukraine to discuss expanding cooperation on Ukraine reconstruction efforts and a broader range of industrial collaboration in smart city and transport infrastructure projects.