Thursday 27 June, 2019, saw SEA20 members congregate at the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa in Finland for an afternoon of closed-door talks at what was the first high-level meeting for the network.
Participants at the event included Jan Vapaavuori, Mayor, City of Helsinki; Alexander Stubb, Former Finnish PM and now Vice-President, European Investment Bank; Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO, Wärtsilä; Joshua Berger, Director of Maritime, State of Washington and many more revered guests from China, Europe and the US. The mayors of Trieste and Genoa were not able to attend in person, instead they provided video messages supporting the talks.
The aim of the meeting: to find common solutions for building a globally efficient, ecologically sound and digitally connected future maritime sector. Why? According to the United Nation’s latest estimate, 68% of the global population will live in cities by the year 2050. This shift places pressure on the development of city infrastructure and the maritime sector. While shipping is by far the most cost-effective way to move goods and people around the world, as consumer demand increases maritime businesses are increasingly faced with major challenges in transitioning to greener, more sustainable operations.
‘According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 90% of global goods are transported by sea meaning that globalisation, urbanisation and the development of maritime logistics are all deeply interconnected. When working on several pilot projects related to, for example, renewable fuels and the digitalisation of the maritime industry, we have noticed a general reluctance to adopt new solutions on a broader global level. We believe that this stems from a lack of market incentives and supportive legislation. The entire industry should be further encouraged to be more transparent and cooperate more broadly. When we all work together we can build a stronger marine ecosystem,” says President and CEO of Wärtsilä, Jaakko Eskola.
Marine cities are becoming the drivers of global development
The event included a discussion on the preliminary findings of the “Maritime Future: A Global Analysis on Marine and the Environment” – a report compiled by Nordic West Office with contributions from global experts in maritime and city planning. The full report, to be published later this year, aims to map the answers to several bottlenecks related to the development of the maritime industry.
”The need to create a smarter marine and energy ecosystem that can handle change in the coming decades is of paramount importance for our marine cities. Today, shipping lacks the comprehensive sharing of data and mutual trust necessary for solving sustainability issues. The issue of the common fate of cities and ports should be raised. Ports and their surrounding areas, at sea and on land, are in need of innovations and their creators,” says Lauri Tähtinen, the Nordic West Office Research Director responsible for conducting the report.
Participants at the event debated the themes of the report and its preliminary findings. There was consensus that cities are fast becoming the drivers of global development in a world that needs to find greener and more sustainable solutions. Pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and increasing congestion are contributing to social tension in cities. The maritime sector has a significant role to play in abating these issues if only the doors would be further opened to encourage a better relationship between the key stakeholders. Shipping currently lacks the comprehensive sharing of data and mutual trust necessary for solving sustainability issues. It was raised that guidelines for a smarter maritime ecosystem are needed and the foundation of new 2020 principles was proposed to provide a framework for this.
”There is a need for cooperation. For example, the port of Helsinki and the city of Helsinki are jointly developing port-city ecosystem by enhancing operational efficiency, digitalisation and sustainability through innovation and experiments. We see SEA20 as a great way of sharing these kind of experiments with other cities and tackling challenges together,” says Ulla Tapaninen. Head of Unit, Enterprise Services, at the City of Helsinki.
Special thanks to the participants:
Alexander Stubb, Vice-President, European Investment Bank
Anna-Leena Mäkilä, Vice Chair, European Sea Ports Organisation, Managing Director, Finnish Port Association
Henrik Bachér, Acting Secretary General, Finnish Marine Industries
Henrik Vuorinen, CEO, Port of Luleå
Jaakko Eskola, President and CEO, Wärtsilä
Jaani Pietikäinen, Senior Advisor to the Vice-President, European Investment Bank
Jan Vapaavuori, Mayor, City of Helsinki
Jani Romanoff, Professor, Marine technology, Aalto University
Jessica Öberg, Senior Vice president, Head of Business Area Industrial Products and Services, Saab
Johan Nylander, China Correspondent, Author of Shenzhen Superstars
Joshua Berger, Director of Maritime, State of Washington, Founder and Chair, Maritime Blue
Jouni Salo, Client Executive, Maritime and Logistics, IBM
Jules Kortenhorst, CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute
Jussi Nikula, Head of Programme, WWF
Lauri Tähtinen, Head of Research and Analysis, Nordic West Office
Marco Ryan, Chief Digital Officer and Executive Vice President, Wärtsilä
Matti Pajula, Chairman, Finnish Waterway Association
Olli Kaljala, Country Chief Executive, Bureau Veritas Finland
Panu Routila, CEO, Konecranes
Petteri Lillberg, Senior Consultant, Demos Helsinki
Risto Penttilä, CEO, Nordic West Office
Roelof uit Beijerse, Program Director, City of Rotterdam
Roger Holm, President, Marine and Executive Vice President, Wärtsilä
Simo Honkanen, Senior Vice President Sustainability, Public Affairs and Communication, Neste
Tero Vauraste, President, Mariadi Oy
Tiina Tuurnala, CEO, Finnish Shipowners' Association
Thomas Kosbau, Founder, Principal Architect, ORE Design + Technology
Tom Ekegren, CEO, Arctia Icebraking
Tomas Häyry, Mayor, City of Vaasa
Ulla Tapaninen, Head of Unit, City of Helsinki
Ville Haapasaari, CEO, Port of Helsinki