PROPOSAL FOR “SUSTAINABLE MARITIME DEVELOPMENT”
A New Framework Concept for the Sustainable Shipping
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Next year, we will all have a life-time opportunity to consider future activities of the shipping industry in the context of the sustainable development.
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2012 will mark 20 years since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 which created the concept of sustainable development and it will also mark 40 years since the first United Nations Conference on Human Environment in 1972. Although sustainability of shipping has been widely discussed in the context of sustainable development over the last two decades, we have not yet developed a common concept for the sustainability of the maritime industries and, in particular, the shipping industry. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) next year called as “Rio+20” will discuss the green economy and the institutional framework for the sustainable development and , therefore, give us all an opportunity to establish a new framework concept for “Sustainable Maritime Development” which should provide common objectives and guiding principles of future maritime developments in which IMO should play a major and significant role.
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I, as a candidate of the next Secretary-General of IMO, encourage Governments, the shipping industry and the wider maritime community as a whole to consider the future of the shipping and maritime industries and generate together a new concept of “Sustainable Maritime Development” which should embrace, in my view, at least the following key fields of operation;
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1 “Global Standards (GS)” for shipping at IMO covering safety, environmental protection, security and facilitation;
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2 “Energy Efficiency (EE)” covering technical and operational measures for efficient fuel consumption based on the basic recognition that fossil energy resources are not infinite and every effort must be made to save energy resources;
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3 “New Technology (NT)” for safety, environmental protection, security , clean energy and efficient operation of shipping to meet the present and future challenges;
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4 “Education and Training (ET)” to ensure a continuous supply of quality seafarers and maritime experts required for all aspects of maritime industries including shipbuilding and maritime equipment manufacturing industries;
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5 “Maritime Security (MS)” covering application of international measures for maritime security, anti-piracy measures, law enforcement mechanisms for maritime zone security and the supply chain security;
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6 “Maritime Traffic Management (MTM)” in straits and sea areas of significant importance covering co-operative mechanisms of littoral States, public-private partnership for future systems and realization of the Marine Electronic Highways.
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7 “Maritime Infrastructure (MI)”, including aids to Navigation, Search and Rescue, port facilities and technical cooperation to ensure availability of proper maritime infrastructure in all parts of the world.
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Maritime transport is fundamentally important for sustainable development and the world economy.Maritime transport is international in all aspects and not just the shipping industry and composed of various players and stakeholders including the shipbuilding industry, maritime equipment manufacturing industry, finance and insurance industries, classification societies, ship owners, seafarers, shippers, trade industry, oil and energy industries, ports, navigation infrastructures, maritime administrations, port State authorities, coast guards, Governments and international organizations. In the preparation of the concept of “Sustainable Maritime Development”, all these stakeholders should be involved and their views should be reflected in the concept. I hope that this suggestion towards the formation of the concept of the Sustainable Maritime Development will generate active discussion on the role of shipping in the world economy and sustainable development and will provide substantial contribution in the process towards UNCSD(Rio+20) next year.
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Koji Sekimizu
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- ※Details of this policy will be developed in the near future.
