WestMED Tunisia highlights the future of Green Maritime Transport at Forum Ocean de la Mer 2024
On 13 September 2024, for its 7th edition, Forum Mondial de la Mer in Bizerte (Tunisia) set the agenda for one of the planet’s most iconic and threatened natural treasures, facing a severe crisis endangering its biodiversity and sustainability, the Mediterranean Sea basin. Researchers, international organizations, local authorities, professionals, and think tanks are continually reassessing their projections based on various scientific, climatic, economic, and demographic data.
Throughout this event, a number of speakers discussed the preservation of marine ecosystems and the levers for a sustainable blue economy.
Challenges and innovation in maritime and port transport
Salem Miladi (WestMED’s National Hub in Tunisia) was one of the speakers talking about the challenges and innovations of maritime and port transport. In his presentation he highlighted how the expansion of world trade, changes the way products are manufactured and distributed and how innovation and the use of advanced information and communication technologies (ITS: Intelligent Transport System), have led to profound changes in the transport system. This is reflected in the door-to-door transport, containerisation and creation of transhipment ports (deep-water ports). The new global transport model has promoted intermodality and logistics, as well as quality and speed of information (just-in-time, zero stock).
However, with maritime transport accounting for 90% of world trade in goods, it also consumes 250 million tonnes of heavy fuel oil obtained from the dirtiest waste products from crude oil distillation. The quantities of particles, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide ejected into the atmosphere are increasingly large, and end up in the seas and oceans.
The maritime transport and port sector is one of the most polluting sectors and must comply with new environmental requirements to make freight more environmentally friendly. Various initiatives have been undertaken to reduce the impact of this pollution on the seas and oceans, such as the MARPOL Convention, which provides for the reduction of the amount of sulphur contained in marine fuels to 0.5%, and the IMO’s (International Maritime Organization) revised strategy, which aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping to zero by 2050.
As part of his presentation Salem also introduced the Westmed Initiative and talked about the ‘Green Shipping Technical Group’ that consist of stakeholders from the Mediterranean shipping and port industry. The main objective of this group is to find funding and carry out projects related to feasibility studies and pilot experiments aimed to promote the widespread use of clean energy by ships and ports – particularly in cooperation with partners from the the southern shore of the western Mediterranean.
The road to Nice : preparing for the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025
Javier Férnandez (Director EU Sea Basins Assistance Mechanism) and Salem Miladi (WestMED National Hub Tunisia) both attended the Forum Mondial de la Mer. Especially because this event formed part of the agenda for the preparation and consultation at Euro-Mediterranean level of the United Nations Ocean Conference that will take place in Nice on 9-13 June 2025. This Conference (UNOC3) will be organised by France and Costa Rica, and is expected to be the biggest international gathering ever organised around ocean issues.
For more information contact Salem Miladi (westMED Hub Tunisia): tunisia@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Copyright: Forum Mondial de la Mer
