Support Action to initiate cooperation between the Communities of European MARine and MARitime REsearch and Science

Transcription

1 Support Action to initiate cooperation between the Communities of European MARine and MARitime REsearch and Science Deliverable No. 2.3 Initiating a Structured Dialogue Date: 14 th December, 2010 (Revised: 19 th June, 2011) Project EMAR 2 RES n Author : Atilla Incecik (WEGEMT)

2 Table of Content Summary Project main objectives Objectives of Task 2.3 Initiating a Structured Dialogue Introduction: Socio-economic aspects pertaining to the marine and maritime sector Marine Sector: Maritime Sector: Environmental Issues Defining architecture for the dialogue between communities, including possible links between ERA-NETS in the marine and maritime areas and between Technology Platforms Maritime ERA-NET: MARTEC (Ref.4) Marine Era-Net: MariFish (Ref.5) Marine Era-Net: SEAS-ERA (Ref.6): Maritime Technology Platform: WATERBORNE TP A EU-FP7 Project: MARCOM+ (Ref.8) Identification of key marine and maritime research recommendations in support of policies Closing Remarks References

3 Summary This report defines the socio-economic aspects pertaining to the marine and maritime sector and highlights the key marine and maritime research policy recommendations of various stakeholders. Possible structures for dialogue between communities, the current marine and maritime ERA-NETS and the WATERBORNE Technology Platforms are also suggested. 1- Project main objectives EMAR²RES aims to provide a forum for interaction between Europe s marine science and maritime transport research communities, so that they can collectively work towards enhanced capability in marine and maritime research. This is essential to ensure that Europe s capability is of internationally acknowledged excellence, and of sufficient scale and critical mass to facilitate, promote and sustain intellectual interchange and discourse between those engaged in international research, fundamental to the principles of the Lisbon Agenda and the European Research Area. The objectives of EMAR²RES are summarised as to: Support interaction between marine scientists and maritime transport research communities to assist in the creation of the marine component of the European Research Area (ERA), facilitating the creation of an internal market and quantifying the existing European marine and maritime research capacity. Facilitate the networking of marine scientists and maritime transport research communities in the European Union leading to a more cost effective and efficient use of Member State resources including scientific personnel, specialist infrastructures and planned investments. Contribute to the evolution of a European Marine Research Strategy, identifying future challenges and opportunities and the priority interdisciplinary research programmes that need to be put in place to address / benefit from them. Provide a basis for the sharing of available resources to address priority issues which are beyond the capacities of individual Member States. Progress the inter-awareness between Member State and EU marine and maritime RTD Programmes, towards collaboration between programmes, which has been identified as a key objective of the ERA. 2- Objectives of Task 2.3 Initiating a Structured Dialogue On the basis of the inventory performed within T2.1 and the analysis performed in T2.2, key research policy recommendations of the various stakeholders will be highlighted and further analysed to serve as the basis for a structured dialogue and cooperation between the marine and maritime communities, taking into account of the socio-economic context. 3

4 Emphasis should be placed on: clearly defining the socio-economic aspects pertaining to the marine and maritime sector defining architecture for the dialogue between communities, including possible links between ERA-NETS in the marine and maritime areas and between Technology Platforms initiating a structured dialogue to identify key inter-sectorial research policy recommendations. Cooperation with the EU funded projects CASMARE and MARCOM will be established in order to avoid duplication of wok. 2.1 Introduction: It is of great importance to initiate a structured dialog between marine and maritime communities to assist in realizing the aim of the European Union's ambitious Marine Strategy Framework Directive which is to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe. It aims to achieve good environmental status of the EU's marine waters by 2020 and to protect the resource base upon which marine and maritime-related economic and social activities depend. The seas surrounding the European continent are a vital natural resource and a main driver of Europe's growth, jobs, competitiveness and prosperity. But new challenges and opportunities are changing the relationship that we have had with the ocean for centuries. Therefore, a structured dialogue between marine and maritime sectors is needed to better address, in a coherent and comprehensive manner, the development of EU sea-related activities which are currently dealt with in a sector by sector manner. Enhanced coordination through a structured dialogue between sectors can prevent inter-user conflicts, minimise inconsistencies, avoid duplication in research and development, and ensure maximum contribution from individual policies to the overall EU goals of growth, jobs and sustainability Oceans support an abundant and diverse web of life, which constitutes an integral part of the marine biological diversity On the other hand; available evidence indicates that marine biodiversity is under growing pressure from different types of human activity. The primary causes of loss of marine biodiversity include pollution, climate change and increasing demands for biological resources as a result of the growth in the human population and world production, consumption and sea trade. As a result of these unprecedented pressures, we are witnessing the degradation of habitats and the over-exploitation of biological resources. Conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity must therefore become an integral part of social and economic development in order to ensure that the variety of services it provides will be available to support human needs in the long term. This can only be achieved with a 4

5 structured dialogue between all the stakeholders of marine and maritime communities (Ref.1) 3. Socio-economic aspects pertaining to the marine and maritime sector 3.1. Marine Sector: The marine sectors activities and their contribution to socio-economic aspects can be summarised as follows (Ref.2): Knowledge about the socio-economic importance of marine resources is necessary in order to formulate policies dealing with the conservation and sustainable use of those resources. However, preliminary research indicates a lack of relevant in-depth studies. This dearth of information can be explained by various reasons which include the fact that interest in marine biodiversity is relatively new. In addition, difficulties arise when trying to assess the socio-economic benefits of marine biodiversity, since a comprehensive evaluation of marine biodiversity is for the moment, impossible owing to a lack of basic knowledge.(ref.2) It is difficult to relate the provision of goods and services to biodiversity, as the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is not clearly understood. Despite these difficulties, it is generally understood that marine ecosystems in areas beyond national jurisdiction, play a key socio-economic role. Socio-economic goods and services provided by oceans and seas include employment, food, raw materials for pharmaceutical industry, leisure and recreation, education, and research. Thus, marine ecosystems not only provide us with an array of goods and services that are essential to a healthy environment, but they also contribute significantly to food security and global employment. As a consequence, their degradation often causes significant harm to human well-being, including livelihoods and health (Ref.2). Some of the marine sectors activities and their contribution to socio-economic aspects can be summarised as follows (Ref.7): Fisheries and aquaculture (0,5 million jobs; 0,3% of EU GDP equating to about 20 billion/year; aquaculture accounts for 19% of the Union's total fishery production). Tourism and coastal zones (maritime tourism accounted for about 3 million jobs with a turnover of 72 billion in 2005). New resources and blue biotechnology (emerging sector with predicted growth of 10% per year and a global market of 2.4 billion). Ocean Survey (This sector had a turnover of 538 billion in 2004). 3.2 Maritime Sector: The maritime sector is of crucial importance to modern societies and its influence and role is an essential element in terms of social and economic development, and provides a potential source of excellent employment and career opportunities, with several million people currently working in activities and companies directly and indirectly related to oceans and seas worldwide. Some of the key act 5

6 Historically, the shipping and fishing industry have experienced a continuous trend of increase both in their fleets and in total trade volume and fishing capacity respectively. The water transportation is economically and environmentally the most efficient way to travel or transport merchandise; and, nowadays, around 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. Around 50,000 merchant ships, registered in over 150 nations and manned by over a million seafarers of nearly every nationality, transport every kind of cargo internationally. Nearly four million commercial fishing vessels are active across the seas and oceans at any given moment. The economic contribution of the maritime sector can be summarised as (Refs.7 and 9): Maritime Transport (90% of external trade and 40% of internal trade in the EU is seaborne; the 1200-plus European ports host 3.5 billion tonnes of cargo per year and 350 million passengers pass through European seaports and approximately people work in ports and related services which together generate an added value of about 20 billion). Maritime ancillary services (insurance, banking, brokering, classification and consultancy services has a turnover of 4 billion) Research and Development (this sector has a turnover of 3.2 billion ) Shipbuilding (shipyards and marine equipment suppliers provide 0,8 million direct and indirect highly skilled jobs and account for a turnover of 90 billion; Europe is the world leader in the production of highly sophisticated vessels such as ferries and cruise ships and employ 500,000 workforce). Dredging and sand and gravel extraction (The estimated value added of this industry in Europe was 558 million in 2010 and accounts for 55% of worldwide turnover) Offshore oil and gas industry (This industry accounted for an estimated 64 billion value added in Europe in 2010, i.e. over 60% of the total value added by maritime activities in Europe.) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) (This technology capable of abating 90% (and more) of the CO2 emitted by industrial/energy sources. Currently, no figures are available to estimate the economics behind carbon storage. Offshore Wind Energy (The offshore wind energy sector in Europe is still in an early stage and has mostly been developed in the northern European countries around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In 2010 the industry accounted for 238 million or 0.23% of the total maritime value added in Europe.) Wave and Tidal energy (Wave and tidal energy in Europe is still in an early stage of development. In 2009 a capacity of 2.75 MW of wave energy and MW of tidal energy was installed in European waters. About 451 million value added from wave and tidal energy was generated in

7 Maritime activities therefore continue to expand, and bringing benefits for people across the world due to a growing efficiency of technical and human resources. The merchant navy, offshore oil sector, commercial fishery and cruise companies are part of the industry of the future, and the maritime sector is already a key catalyst for socio-economic development and international competitiveness in a changing world, with new companies and organizations emerging and establishing operations in the EU as well as in Asia and North America. The maritime sector is composed of organizations and activities such as maritime transportation, the naval industry (naval engineering and shipbuilding companies, and the component supply sector), commercial fishing and aquaculture industry, the cruise and recreational sector, sport and commercial ports and marinas, marine energy sources, navies, maritime education and research establishments, nautical schools, and maritime training academies and training centres, a wide range of professional services around the maritime activities, and professional associations, trade unions and organizations supporting the rights and interests of seafarers and maritime professionals. The maritime industry is of huge importance in terms of natural resources and energy, trade and industry, sciences and leisure activities it is extremely important to understand the effect of maritime activities on the global ecosystems and marine environment, as well as their necessary conservation (Ref.3). 4. Environmental Issues Human activities at sea already affecting marine biodiversity and they must be properly managed in order to minimize their impact and to ensure sustainable use of marine biodiversity. In addition, emerging activities should be assessed for possible impacts, in order to enable the development of an appropriate regime to ensure that biological resources are not destroyed and that any development is sustainable. Marine and maritime related activities and phenomena that could have an impact on marine biodiversity include fishing, climate change, pollution, the introduction of alien species during ballast water exchange, waste disposal, mineral exploitation, anthropogenic underwater noise, marine debris, marine research at sea, carbon sequestration, tourism and pipelines and cables. In order to understand the effect of marine and maritime related human activities on biodiversity and to protect it, more research is needed as discussed in Section 6 (Refs 2 and 7). 5. Defining architecture for the dialogue between communities, including possible links between ERA-NETS in the marine and maritime areas and between Technology Platforms A proposed architecture for the dialogue between marine and maritime communities, including the establishment of possible links between the current marine and maritime ERA-NETS and WATERBORNE Technology platform will be: 7

8 1. The establishment of a new Marine and Maritime Technology Platform (MAR2 TP ) 2. The establishment of a regular (three yearly) EU Marine and Maritime Congress and of technical committees of this Congress whose members are appointed by ERA-NETS and Waterborne Technology platform to review the state-of-the art to identify the joint marine and maritime research and development research and development needs for the sustainable use of the seas and oceans. The committees will also promote long term research in the areas that they identify. The committees will present their reports and invite discussions on the reports at a general assembly of marine and maritime stakeholders which are to meet at every three years. The detailed structure of the committees and the general assembly of the Congress will be given in Report D4.2. In the following the existing maritime and marine ERA-NETS and the WATERBORNE Technology Platform and the MARCOM+ project will be summarised. 5.1 Maritime ERA-NET: MARTEC (Ref.4) The MARTEC project in the maritime area has the following aims: Map and analyse national projects and programs of maritime RTD activity, funding instruments and mechanisms for initiation, evaluation as well as management procedures leading to best practice and optimization of national research funding. Execute SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the synergistic use of maritime research and testing infrastructures facilitating to a more cost effective use of national resources. Identify topics most suitable for immediate co-operation and integration as well as existing thematic gaps between national programs through close communication with key maritime stakeholders. Contribute to the awareness and dissemination of maritime R&D activities by creation and maintenance of an internet-based communication and information platform for partners, industry stakeholders and maritime technology research institutions. Develop strategies and an action plan for the mutual opening of national programs as well as co-ordinated and jointly funded research programs and calls forming a whole with European framework programs. Implement a joint multinational research program/call in a specific thematic area between some partner-countries as a test-case to level grounds for future common programs. The research fields included in this ERA-NET project include: shipbuilding, ship and port operation, maritime equipment and services, inland water and intermodal transport, offshore industry/technology, offshore structures for renewable energy, 8

9 fishing/aquaculture, polar technology, environmental impact, safety and security, and human elements The consortium members of MARTEC are: German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology; Research Centre Juelich GmbH, Germany; The Research Council of Norway; Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, France; Centre d'etudes Techniques Maritimes et Fluviales; the Association of Finnish Marine Industries; Tekes, the National Technology Agency of Finland; Instituto Tecnológico para el Desarrollo de las Industrias Maritimas, Spain; The Danish Maritime Authority; Ministry for Economic Affairs, The Netherland; Universitatea Dunarea de Jos Din Galati, Romania and the Swedish Maritime Administration. 5.2 Marine Era-Net: MariFish (Ref.5) MariFish aims at bringing together the major European national funders of marine fisheries research to form an effective, working partnership. MariFish aims to strengthen the links between marine fisheries science and fisheries management. The consortium members are: The Icelandic Research Centre; Marine Institute, Ireland; Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Environment, UK; Ministry of Agriculture. Fisheries and Forestry, Portugal; The Ministry of Education and Science, Spain; IFREMER, France; Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Belgium; The Ministry of Nature, Agriculture, Food Quality, Policy Department of Fisheries; German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) and the Federal Research Centre for Fisheries; Fisheries Institute in Gdynia (MIR); The Research Council of Norway; The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning; Research Promotion Foundation, Cyprus; Ministry of Development, General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece; Fisheries Research Services, Scotland; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland; National Centre for Research and Development, Poland. 5.3 Marine Era-Net: SEAS-ERA (Ref.6): The overall objective of SEAS-ERA is to facilitate the establishment of a stable and durable structure for strengthening marine research across the European Sea Basins. To do so the project brings together 20 major European Marine Research Funding Organisations from 20 countries in the basin regions of the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and the Marine Board-ESF. (See also Report D4.1) The aims of this Era-Net are: Contribute to setting up of a European Marine and Maritime Research Agenda and develop a stable European overarching operational structure for its implementation; 9

10 Enhance cooperation between Member States and avoid fragmentation by fostering synergies at regional and European levels towards achievement of Joint Programming; Propose a plan for a better and sustainable use of Marine Research Infrastructures; Improve science development and its utilization in Europe through human capacity building; Enhance public awareness of marine and maritime scientific and policy issues in Europe Maritime Technology Platform: WATERBORNE TP The WATERBORNE Technology Platform provides a forum for the EU maritime stakeholders to define and regularly update the R&D requirements for the European competitiveness, innovation, and design, construction and operation of waterborne transport vehicles that will satisfy the safety and environmental regulations. The stakeholders include EU associations covering deep and short sea shipping, inland waterways, yards, equipment manufacturers, marine leisure industry, research and university institutions, classification societies etc. The WATERBORNE TP stakeholders consist of so-called stakeholder Support Group which is matched by a Mirror Group of European government appointed delegates. 5.5 A EU-FP7 Project: MARCOM+ (Ref.8) The overall objective of the project is to propose a new, integrated governance and consultancy model in the form of a forum (The European Marine and Maritime Science and Technology Forum). Commencing with delivering a synthesis of the policy scene and a review of existing governance frameworks and partnerships, the group will assess the important collaboration mechanisms and tools for integrated ocean governance. These experiences will allow working out the abilities to address science voice in an integrated and coherent manner. The consortium will furthermore ensure proper communication of proceedings, results and recommendations amongst the stakeholders. 6. Identification of key marine and maritime research recommendations in support of policies The general assembly of the EU Marine and Maritime Congress referred to in Section 4 will review the work carried out by this and MARCOM+ projects and using the outcome of the work of these two projects it will assist with the identification of key marine and maritime research policy recommendations in the areas which will include (Refs 7 and 10): Marine resource management and spatial planning The development of integrated ecosystem approach is required to manage marine resources. In addition we need to establish a good understanding of the ecosystem to develop coastal and marine spatial planning options to help 10

11 optimise the management of marine and maritime activities and their sustainable development. Research and development of technologies are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and marine environmental pollution including the transfer of alien marine species and underwater noise. Research and development of viable technologies are needed to exploit the potential of offshore wind, ocean currents, wave and tidal energy. A strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change: An enhanced detection and better assessment of the impacts of climate change on oceans and on coastal areas are required. We need to develop options to mitigate the effects of climate change. Impact of human activities on coastal and marine ecosystems and their management. Coastal and marine ecosystems are affected by land-based as well as maritime activities. Research is needed to develop a better understanding and to mitigate the cumulative effects of these activities through eco-friendly technologies. Marine biodiversity and biotechnology. The marine environment hosts a considerable part of biodiversity on earth. We need to establish better understanding of the functional role, evolution, protection and exploitation of marine biodiversity including biotechnology and bio-prospecting. Continental margins and deep sea. We need to establish better understanding of sediments in continental margins and deep seas, gas hydrate behaviour, deep-sea ecosystems. We also need to develop technologies for enhanced deep-sea observations. There is a need to develop a European network for maritime surveillance We need to continue developing strategies for joined marine and maritime research 7. Closing Remarks This report defined the socio-economic aspects pertaining to the marine and maritime sector. Having proposed possible structures for the dialogue between the current marine and maritime ERA-NETS and the WATERBORNE Technology Platforms some of the key marine and maritime research in support of policies are summarised. 11

12 References 1. EU-Maritime Affairs Press Releases, 10 th October, Oceans and Law of the Sea, Secretary General s Report, United Nations, Wind Rose Network Website ( Employment-and-Jobs-on-Cruise-Ships-Merchant-Vessels-and-Offshore-Oil- Rigs.html) 4. ERA-NET MARTEC Website ( 5. ERA-NET MariFish Website ( 6. ERA-NET SEAS-ERA Website ( 7. A European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research: A coherent European Research Area framework in support of a sustainable use of oceans and seas, EU Document No. COM (2008), EC MARCOM+ project Website (2010): environment/marcom+.pdf 9. Study on the economic effects of Maritime Spatial Planning, Policy Research Corporation, Brussels, An Integrated Policy for the European Union, EU Document No. COM (2007) 575 final,