The Chamber of Shipping celebrates this year’s theme for World Oceans Day – The Ocean: Life & Livelihoods – while applauding the on-going collaboration with the Government of Canada, Indigenous communities, port authorities, and community and industry stakeholders on measures to protect our oceans and coastal communities. “Marine transportation is essential to world trade and global economies,” said Robert Lewis-Manning, President of the Chamber. “Our collaborative efforts to advance new technologies and best practices that provide for greater sustainability is at the heart of all that we do.”
International shipping is committed to supporting Canada’s marine conservation target of 30 per cent by 2030 and continues to enhance measures to protect our oceans and reduce the cumulative impact from marine shipping. Through the International Maritime Organization, international shipping is working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050. “We encourage the government and port authorities to support innovation in the marine sector,” said Lewis-Manning, noting that the sector continues to grow at roughly four per cent each year. “Initiatives such as the development of a Blue Economy Strategy are essential to ensuring that Canada’s trade objectives are met without compromising the health of the world’s oceans.”
With shipping accounting for 90 per cent of goods transported around the world and, in more remote communities in Canada, providing the necessities of life, the Chamber encourages the Government of Canada, non-government organizations, Indigenous partners and industry stakeholders to continue to focus on those initiatives that can strike a balance between environmental sustainability and a safe and competitive transportation framework. “Initiatives such as the Blue Economy Strategy and the Oceans Protection Plan provide a way for all Canadians to work toward our common goals of a clean and healthy ocean that will sustain future generations,” Lewis-Manning said.
The Chamber further encourages government leadership in comprehensive marine spatial planning to ensure waterways are managed safely and effectively, and to establish low-impact trade corridors on the land and the sea that enable international and domestic trade safely and efficiently. The Chamber looks forward to engaging in marine spatial planning processes and to working with other stakeholders to achieve a safe, sustainable, and competitive marine transportation framework.
