Port Development

Project description
Puerto Barú is a privately-funded megaport project approved for construction in Puerto Cabrito, a mangrove-rich stretch of coastline in the district of David, Chiriquí province. The project, which involves extensive dredging and land development, is slated to begin in 2025 despite a legal challenge from environmental organizations seeking to annul the approval of its environmental impact assessment (EIA) by Panamá's Supreme Court. This project will examine the Puerto Barú approval process through the lens of the Escazú Agreement, a UN treaty ratified by Panamá in 2021 that establishes binding provisions on access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making, justice in environmental matters, and protection for environmental defenders. Our project will identify key questions and concerns related to the environmental impacts and decision-making process surrounding the Puerto Barú project. This project will benefit from the computational support of McGill University students, who will assist in creating sedimentation models to critically examine the results presented in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by the project consortium. Deliverables from this project will include a policy brief and a follow-up research agenda which will identify areas for further investigation, potential collaborations, and opportunities for engagement with stakeholders. Additionally, we will create an open-source data repository for stakeholders to be able to access information relevant for future modeling efforts.

PRISM project leader: Brian Leung

Publications: To follow