Tag: sustainability

'Use your power to empower'. 'Say what you’re thinking'. 'Listen to the ‘yes’ voice in your head'. 'Believe in yourself'. This was the advice given by various inspiring maritime women sharing their experiences of working in the maritime world at a special event on 'Women, ports and facilitation' at IMO Headquarters, London, on 10 April.

'Social license to operate' is crucial to all ocean industries and the Blue Economy overall. A new report by WOC, ANCORS and Wageningen University provides a strategic, cross-sectoral and systematic assessment of the challenges and opportunities for industry in addressing social license in ocean economic activity.

Our oceans are critical to so many aspects of our day-to-day lives. In the UK alone, they provide jobs for over 500,000 people, contribute more than £47 billion to the economy, and are the means through which 95% of all trade reaches the UK. Globally, people rely on the ocean for trade, food, energy and other valuable resources, as well as enabling environmental protection and international aid.

IMO agreed to address maritime corruption by including this issue in its work programme for the Facilitation Committee. The decision to include an anti-corruption agenda came during the latest meeting of the IMO’s Facilitation Committee (FAL) in response to a submission from Liberia, Marshall Islands, Norway, United Kingdom, US and Vanuatu.

In a joint declaration during the Nordic Council 2019 in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Nordic ministers for the environment, pushed for a new global agreement on the reduction and prevention of plastic waste and microplastics discharged into the sea. 

A joint project between Equinor Wind US, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was launched, aiming to expand the detection and monitoring of whale species found in the waters of New York Bight.

Shell announced a programme to invest in natural ecosystems as part of its strategy to act on global climate change, including addressing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by customers when using its products. Shell plans to invest $300 million over the next three years.

The past weeks, many were the companies interested in taking part in the Porthos CO2 transport and storage project in Rotterdam. The project is an initiative of EBN, Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The goal of the project is to achieve a generally accessible transport and storage infrastructure into which multiple parties can supply CO2. 

ABS launched the ABS Global Sustainability Centre aiming to help maritime transition to a sustainable, lower emissions industry. The Centre plans include leading an industry education program, seminars and lectures, designed to raise awareness of maritime sustainability technologies and carbon reduction strategies.

The Ocean Cleanup System 001 began operations in September 2018. Although in the beginning it seemed to have positive outcome, after sometime of operating it was acknowledged that the system was facing challenges, as the plastic was exiting the system once it was collected. Therefore, the Founder and CEO of Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat, explains the root causes of the system's failure.