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BLUE’s Alisdair Pettigrew recently contributed to Turning the Tide Towards a Sustainable Blue Economy, sharing his perspective on how we invest in a blue economy and the need for collaboration across different sectors to create a sustainable future.
As well as his role as managing director BLUE, Alisdair supports BLUE business consultancy team. His background and interest in the blue economy stems from six years he spent as Senior Consultant to the Sir Richard Branson-founded NGO, the Carbon War Room, where Alisdair led its shipping strategy. He was also a member of the European Commission’s blue economy think tank. BLUE’s work has also included supporting NGO, OCEANA highlight the dangerous escalation of ocean acidification. This is what he had to say:
“Shipping is just one of many parties competing for use of the oceans. As the global population of almost 8 billion increasingly exploits raw materials, energy and food, from the land – in some cases leading to scarcity – it is only natural that we should turn to the oceans for these things. This explains why ocean-related business and activity is expanding rapidly – the blue economy. However, with the world’s population due to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, there is real pressure to ensure that our demands on the world’s oceans are truly sustainable, and not at the expense of marine ecosystems.
"Oceans are a more fragile environment than land and therefore must be viewed differently. For the shipping industry, the oceans are its freeways and railways – with large vessels largely transiting from one developed world location to another – often oblivious to the island states, developing nations and habitats that they pass by, both in coastal waters and deep ocean.
"Without reversing the trend for globalisation, as a shipping industry we are largely reliant upon technology to help protect the balance of the oceans and enable them to flourish in supporting jobs and livelihoods, as well as providing energy, raw materials and food in a controlled and balanced way. New technological developments such as the availability of renewable and alternative energy sources, digitalization, artificial intelligence, robotics and increasing automation will help shipping contribute to this balance; but it cannot wait.”
The article highlights a plethora of opinions including experts in the blue economy from Paul Holthus, Founding President and CEO, World Ocean Council to Natasa Pilides, Cyprus Shipping Deputy Minister and Tim Lowe CBE, Chief Executive, UK Hydrographic Office.
For the full article, visit: https://informaconnect.com/turning-the-tide-towards-a-sustainable-blue-economy/ written by Leah Kinthaert, Informa Connect
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