Nor-Shipping builds partnership with UN for Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform
Nor-Shipping is following up on its role as host of the June 2019 United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) High Level Meeting on Ocean by contributing to a week of activity designed to develop the Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform in New York.
The programme of activity, taking place from 23-28 September at the UN’s global headquarters, will see leading politicians, maritime and ocean industry executives, UN representatives, NGOs and other key stakeholders gathering in an effort to accelerate sustainable industry practices, help build consensus on ocean governance and support growth for future generations. The launch of the Sustainable Ocean Principles on 23 September is a key landmark for the collaborative movement, and notes Nor-Shipping director Per Martin Tanggaard, for society as a whole.
“This will be a busy, productive and fundamentally important week for the participants within the UNGC Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform, not to mention everyone interested in the responsible development of the ocean space,” says Tanggaard, who will be in attendance in New York. “The Sustainable Ocean Principles are central to everything we hope to achieve.
“They will act as the foundation for positive growth, emphasizing the roles and responsibility of businesses worldwide to secure a healthy and productive ocean environment. Their creation is a major step forward and Nor-Shipping is committed to helping optimize their impact, building on the role we played as meeting host during Nor-Shipping 2019 and encouraging all our own stakeholders to support the principles, the platform and the important work of the UNGC itself.”
The nine principles will cover three areas, namely: climate change, ocean health and productivity; governance and engagement; and data and transparency. They have been developed in consultation with more than 300 stakeholders worldwide. Businesses will be encouraged to sign up to the principles and commit to supporting them, using existing reporting mechanisms to demonstrate their efforts. A set of practical guidelines based on multi stakeholder inputs for each sector will be published to assist them.
Alongside the launch of the principles, other highlights from the week long programme include seminars, discussions, groundwork for the second UN Ocean Conference in 2020, and the launch of version two of The Ocean Opportunities Report, examining the links between a healthy ocean and business growth.
“An increasing global population needs to access increased resources – in terms of food, energy and transportation – and the ocean is key to unlocking them,” Tanggaard states, adding, “but this has to be done responsibly, strengthening our ocean environments, not undermining them. If not we risk catastrophe.
“The good news is that growth and sustainability go hand in hand, as reports such this emphasize. With the right private sector innovation and investment, together
with strong public and private governance, we can access the resources we need in a way that allows our ocean space to flourish. It is a challenge, but one we must rise to. Nor-Shipping is committed to playing its part; protecting the environment while helping our customers fulfil commercial potential and access the opportunities that lie ahead.”
Nor-Shipping, Your Arena for Ocean Solutions, is a participant of the UNGC and supporter of the Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform.
Nor-Shipping 2019, which took place between 3 and 7 June, welcomed more than 50,000 people from over 85 nations, with business exhibitors from some 47 countries.
Nor-Shipping 2021 will take place in Oslo and Lillestrøm, 1 – 4 June, 2021.