Launch of the Review of Maritime Transport 2022
23 November 2022
Delivered at a press conference held under embargo before the report was published on 29 November 2022.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
Thank you for joining us at the launch of UNCTAD’s Review on Maritime Transport 2022. This is one of UNCTAD’s key reports.
As we all know, shipping is vital to the global economy – about 80 per cent of all traded goods are moved around the world by sea.
Without maritime transport, essential items like food and medicine cannot flow, key supply chains for energy and commodities cannot function, and affordable prices are almost impossible to maintain.
But – for the last two years – the maritime industry has suffered from tremendous disruption. COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, Climate change and geopolitics have clogged ports, pushed up prices and closed entire shipping routes.
The logjam in global logistics has affected all of us.
Those especially hard-hit are the economies far from the main lines of trade – small island developing states, landlocked developing countries in Africa and Latin America have suffered.
To ensure global trade benefits all, we must change course.
We need to be better prepared to cope with shocks to global supply chains.
We need the maritime industry to improve efficiency, invest in infrastructure and reduce its carbon footprint.
This report comes with three key messages for policymakers and the millions of people who work in the shipping trade and make the essential lifeline of maritime trade possible.
First, the maritime industry plays a key role in alleviating the current crises helping to implement the two agreements signed in Istanbul in July. Shipping can bring prices down and ensure the world has enough food and fertilizer next year.
UNCTAD – particularly our teams working on maritime logistics – has supported these initiatives with data, intelligence, analysis, and policy guidance.
But much more needs to be done.
This review calls for stronger transport infrastructure, improved connectivity, expanded warehouses and fewer shortages of labour and equipment.
In short, we need to tackle the many sources of inefficiencies at ports and in land transport networks.
This review also calls for better implementation of transport and trade facilitation solutions at ports and borders.
At UNCTAD, we work very closely on facilitation through different programs on ports and customs like ASYCUDA and the ports program and training. These are our largest technical assistance projects going to really dozens of countries around the world.
This report calls for a faster transition to smart and green logistics systems and to the widespread use of electronic documents in international trade.
All of these are solutions to reduce logistic costs, which in turn translate into lower prices for the world.
This is not rocket science, very concrete things can be realized with political will and with the necessary financing to take on board the needs of the countries to make this happen.
To succeed, we must work hand-in-hand with the private sector and the international community to ensure that the necessary investments are in place.
Our second point in the report is this: We need a resilient maritime industry for a more resilient world.
The international community must mobilize resources for a long-term vision that promotes a resilient and sustainable maritime supply chain, especially in developing countries.
This entails five very concrete things.
First, building capacity in agile and resilient maritime transport systems.
Second, investing in risk management and emergency response.
Third, bringing more women into the port industry. Among other things, this will help to deal with labour shortages that contribute to port congestion.
Fourth, creating more competition. Over the last 25 years, the top 20 carriers have increased their market share from 48 per cent to 91 per cent, almost double. Such concentration can lead to abuse of market power, constrained supply, and higher rates for shippers worldwide.
Fifth, and finally, to build resilience, we also need a more nuanced view of geopolitics. A world of “reshoring” production at home or “friend-shoring” production from certain partners is not necessarily a more resilient world than what we have today.
Trade is, at heart, not an issue of logistics. It is an issue of trust. And there are no quick fixes to building trust.
Our third and final point in this review is that we need to support the maritime industry’s transition to a low-carbon future.
You know, we are just coming out of COP27, so, we need to stress this point very much because the report shows that, between 2020 and 2021, carbon emissions from the world maritime fleet rose by almost 5 per cent.
That number is heading in the wrong direction if we hope to meet the global climate goals.
We are also concerned about ageing ships, and what that means for the environment ships pollute more as they get older.
We also need a whole new generation of ships – ships that can use the most cost-efficient fuels and can integrate seamlessly with smart digital systems.
To support the industry, ports and ship owners need predictable global rules. We understand that.
In terms of green and climate regulation, we must move from the many and messy rules we have now to one system that is good for all.
Universal and predictable regulation is key to encouraging investment, mobilizing finance, strengthening collaboration, and harnessing the opportunities of the energy transition.
This is critical given a highly uncertain environment with conflict risks, the resetting of supply chains and the unknown prices of carbon in the future.
The sooner that national policymakers and international negotiators deliver predictable multilateral regulations, the sooner the shipping industry will advance with the necessary investments.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
Shamika Sirimanne, UNCTAD’s director of the division on technology and logistics, will brief you on some of the key details in just a moment, she will go deeper into these issues, but I want to take this opportunity again to personally thank her and her teams for all of their efforts with the review which remains essential reference for the Maritime Industry worldwide.
I leave you with my final message; the last two years have brought unprecedented disruption on a global scale.
To help resolve our current crises and prepare for the future, we need shipping and supply chains to be more efficient, more resilient, and far greener.
To do that, we must change course and we must do it now.
Thank you.
