Role of NGOs in the Maritime Industry and Protection of Seafarers - Essay Example

The role of NGOs in the Maritime Industry and how they Influence Policies concerning the Protected of Seafarers IntroductionFounded in Geneva in 1948 and also known as the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) until 1982, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) met for the first time in 1959. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, it is a specialised agency of the United Nations tasked with improving the security and safety of international shipping and preventing pollution from ships. It is also mandated with legal matters, inclusive of liability and compensation issues and the facilitation of the international maritime traffic. IMO currently boasts of 170 member states and an assembly, which meets once every two years (Lagoni & Ehlers 2006). According to Alan (2005), IMO also has a council consisting of 40 members elected by the Assembly and acts as the governing body in between the assembly sessions preparing the work program and the budget for the Assembly. The main technical work is carried out by the Maritime Safety, Marine Environment Protection, Legal’ Technical Co-operation and Facilitation Committees, as well as, a number of sub-committees. IMO’s slogan summarises its objectives namely; safe, secure, and efficient shipping on clean oceans. IMO is currently headed by Koji Sekimizu. IMO is one of the smallest agencies in the United Nations both in terms of the staff numbers and budget. As such, the IMO Assembly approved a budget of over 64 million pounds for 2014 through 2015. However, the reason to this is that the costs are shared between the 170 member states in proportion to the size of each one’s fleet of the merchant ships. Role of NGOs in the maritime industry For more than two decades, the world has come to know the term “non-governmental organisation” and its acronym “NGO” and synonymously associated it to voluntary, advocacy, and philanthropic organisations safeguarding varied public interests in the fields of public health, human rights, environmental protection, global equity, and solidarity, humanitarian affairs, conservation, arms control and many more. The contribution of NGOs to the conservation and governance of oceans cannot be underestimated and continues to be extremely fundamental and far-reaching. The nature of the contributions by the NGO in marine governance, management, science, and conservation is as varied as the nature of the NGOs themselves. It is in line with Article 71 of the UN Charter that envisioned that The Economic and Social Council may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organisations that concern themselves with matters of competence. Such arrangements may be made with international organisations and where appropriate with the Member of the United Nations concerned (Grammenos 2013). In general, the overlapping clusters of NGOs are the policy development and agenda-setting, education, capacity and awareness building, outreach, environmental, or conservation management, science, watchdog, and rapid response. Science With maritime, the motivation and the work of NGOs is science based. For some NGOs, the mandates are based on value judgments and ethical considerations that are fed by the scientific findings and the analysis of scientists in various disciplines. For instance, an NGO delving in the area of climate change may not have specifically have climate scientists as staff but will find its data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The nature of scientific work undertaken by NGOs can be filtered into two different clusters: review of the scientific knowledge, as well as, assumptions arising from the knowledge and gaps and the laboratory, or on-site scientific research (Ehlers 2006; Brodie 2014). The scientific work of the environmental NGOs; thus, often evokes the mission, portfolio, and the reach of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Though not an NGO per see, the IUCN is an important tool at the crossroads of science and policy. Hence, on an ongoing basis, the IUCN and its NGO members have interactive sessions and they share their scientific findings (Brodie 2014). However, the work relating to the oceans is coordinated by the IUCN Marine and Polar program alongside experts drawn from around the world who participate directly. In the maritime industry, according to Serrano, Xhafa and Fitcher (2011), the scientific capacity of all NGOs is not as developed and is characterised by disparities exhibited from one NGO to another. For instance, Greenpeace International boasts of a Science Unit that is based at the University of Exeter, UK for over 20 years. The science unit has acquired expertise in sampling programs detecting the presence and the concentration of hazardous substances in the environment, commercial and food goods including those found in the sea or the living marine resources. Where the organisations are small or with limited resources, scientists donate their expertise and time but often as a tactic to reparation of the lack of response to their expressions of concern in the government or the industry controlled institutions to which they belong (Ehlers 2006). Other NGOs also encourage science and the scientific capacity via fellowship programs. Such include WWF’s Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Fellowship, Russell Train Education for Nature Program and the WWF Memorial Scholarships that provide scholars with the necessary complement to support work that the states governments alone cannot sustain. The scenario is more common in the developing countries (Karim 2014). The Pew Charitable Trusts also provide support to the Fisheries Centre where it is based at the University of British Columbia. It has grown to become a world-class centre of excellence for fisheries conservation research and training. Environmental and conservation management Though the public awareness on ocean governance and conservation issues has escalated, the events that the governments and government agencies or their political will for response are inadequate. Hence, under these prevailing circumstances and the damage done to the habitats and marine biodiversity, many NGOs have had to increase their mandates from the promotion to the management of conservation instruments such as the marine protected areas, the marine parks and reserves and no-take reserves (Kaufman & Lewin 2011). Many NGOs have been involved in the identification and the surveying of marine areas that deserve MPA status. For instance, with support from the Spanish Environment Ministry’s Fundacion Biodiversidad, Oceana sometimes undertakes surveys in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; thus, promoting the creation of a network of MPAs. The Pew Environment Group’s ambitious Global Ocean Legacy Program is mandated with protection of “large special places in the sea,” which remain to be relatively pristine or deserve to be managed and protected as no-take zones as Brodie (2014) concurs. Another large international organisation, Conservation International, has developed its own “Seascapes” approach that it seeks to establish in different regions of the world. At its core, the approach is targeted at establishing good governance and the recovery of ocean health at a large scale through collaborative efforts among governments, partner organisations and the stakeholder groups (Karim 2014). So far, three “seascapes” have been tested in the Eastern Tropical Pacific in Indonesia and in a maritime that is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines. A public-private partnership was launched in 2002 between the Governments of Ecuador, Panama, Colombia and the Costa Rica. The partnerships involved philanthropic personalities with social and business ties at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. Pursuant to that, NGO activists have increased the protection of a biological passage in Central-American Pacific that comprises the Marine Protected Areas of the Malpelo, Coco, Galapagos Islands, and the Cuba. The many non-governmental patrol boats that alert the coast guards on the event of protective measures violation detection has; therefore, converted what was in many ways a series of national parks into areas that are effectively protected (Kaufman & Lewin 2011; Grammenos 2013). The Marviva project boasts of aiding the local governments in the implementation of the law and other related protection measures and securing a permanent existence of monitoring and control units in the protected areas, promotion and guarantee of transparency, effectiveness and ethics, involvement of local authorities in the management and protection of the coastal and marine environment. They are also involved in the training of coastguards in a bid to increase their effectiveness and motivation. The organisations also concern themselves with promotion and sharing of the environmental wealth, as well as, the access to environmental scientists by drumming support for their work (Firth 2006). The situation is only a tad different in Belize, a country boasting of a rich marine biodiversity, which have become a potential as a tourist attraction and; thus, an income earner. Here, in partnership with the government, three NGOs namely Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), Toledo Association for Sustainable Tourism Development (TASTE), and Friends of Nature have worked on managing or co-managing the institutions (Firth 2006). However, the Central American nation does not have a monopoly on MPAs under NGOs. In the states, for instance, only two large NGOs, WWF and the Nature Conservancy and a few other NGOs who have based their operations in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere have been involved in the management of MPAs. It is also inclusive of designing and implementation of the capacity-building programs for managers and other stakeholders. Education, outreach, capacity building, and awareness Arguably, the NGOs high profile and their recognition in the large societal spheres has grown in favour of their ever increasing role as the disseminators on information and promotion of environmental behaviour and values. That is, prior to the start of the environmental impact of the NGOs being felt in the early 1970s, local and state governments, members of the business sector and members of the academic world and elite society tended to discredit the organisations and address their issues in closed loops with little respect for the other stakeholders. Thus, as per the opinion of Serrano, Xhafa and Fitcher (2011) and Firth (2006), useful information that could pick and influence the public’s interest was not publicly available. Important data which is influential like the types and amounts of hazardous wastes discharged in the oceans, the names of people undertaking that, the criteria used to label those as hazardous, the areas they were carried out in great details, their effects on the environment, among others were kept private and confidential in some countries and restricted in others. After the Rio Earth Summit, which was held in the mid-1990s, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) the member states unveiled the development of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters otherwise known as the Aarhus Convention. While highlighting the core themes as depicted by its theme including ocean management and conservation, it also addresses other equally important issues. For example, there is a rights-based approach which underlies the different procedural requirements in the Convention; adoption of the minimum standards, otherwise known as a floor, while still promoting the view that other legal instruments can go as further, no ceiling. It also provides a non-discriminatory site for citizens which might be based on citizenship or nationality (Serrano, Xhafa & Fitcher 2011). Thus, NGOs campaigns raise awareness of environmental issues that can take many different scenarios. Indeed, the very first international advocacy campaign developed by the WWF was an awareness campaign dubbed “The Sea must Live” which was launched in 1977. The first Greenpeace campaign, on the other hand, started around the same time was meant to protect whales and other marine wildlife and their advocacy. Through the various sectorial and cross-sectorial communication, NGOS have increasingly and successfully been involved in actions, which influence and impact on the policies and practices of private corporations, the patterns and behaviour of consumers as well as the relationship between these two (Firth 2006). On one side, consumer demands that are triggered by and reliant on the NGOs might sway the purchasing policies of large and small retailers and restaurants (Grammenos 2013). On the other hand, NGOs can also add value as a trendsetter for the green purchasing policies of restaurants and retailers when they are properly communicated and implemented well to and along the clientele base. For instance, in light of the concerns that were highlighted by NGOs with regards to the future of the Bluefin tuna stocks in the Atlantic and other places, many restaurants, chefs, and retail chains are advertising the fact that they have eliminated the species from their menus and stalls. Founded in the United States in 2001, the Seafood Choice Alliance is an international program that was developed in a bid to create opportunities for change in the seafood industry and for the ocean conservation (Alan 2005). The Alliance has been instrumental in aiding the players in the seafood industry, fish farmers, fishermen, processors, retailers, distributors, restaurants, and food service providers, make the seafood market economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Brodie (2014) maintains that it is to build synergies and stimulate dialogue that they organise a Seafood Summit that is held annually in a different and strategic location. The appeal is no different in Europe where celebrity chefs have launched Fish Fight, an online petition that calls for a European Union-wide ban on the fish discards. Owing to the NGO and other ocean conservation awareness programs reaching increased audiences, sustainable consumer demand is growing for seafood. The creation and adequate distribution of the appropriate tools for informing and guiding customers can; however, present a challenge owing to the different status of the populations of the same species since they vary from one sea or region to another. Also, lack of the traceability of seafood available to stalls and restaurants creates logistical difficult. In attempts to borrow from the experience of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a certification scheme meant to boost sustainable forestry and fight illegal logging, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was established as a fishery certification program to recognise and reward sustainable fishing (Karim 2014). Though faced with mixed results, the MSC collaborates with the fisheries, seafood companies, conservation groups and scientists to promote the best environmental choices in seafood. Rapid response and surveillance In addition to the roles highlighted above, the watchdog function assumed by many environmental NGOs that consists of reporting and monitoring on how well governments and corporations perform in light of minimising their environmental footprint and whether they follow the germane environmental laws and regulations is one of the activities that award most credibility, popularity, and visibility to NGOs (Kaufman & Lewin 2011). Because they are more flexible compared to the public administrators, NGOS enjoy a lot of public support especially when they are seen to respond much faster than the public authorities in the event of environmental disasters. For instance, in May 2011, in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi, Greenpeace sent a ship to the maritime area positioning. It is at a vantage point to publish the results of a seafood sampling program showing significant concentrations of the radioactive pollutants in seafood. A step ahead of the public institutions, Greenpeace was the first to equate the seriousness of the consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi accident with those of the 1986 Ukrainian Chernobyl catastrophic explosion (Alan 2005; Grammenos 2013). Weeks before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could reach the same conclusion publicly, Greenpeace had already classified the Fukushima disaster as the worst on the IAEA scale for the nuclear accidents. Thanks to the governance and monitoring gaps by the public administrators concerning the marine environment management, the sea has continued to offer innumerable opportunities for NGOs to test and demonstrate the effectiveness of their watchdog role. Illegal, unrelated and unreported (IUU) fishing that is documented and denounced by the NGOs is also made possible owing to the availability of convenience systems that allow unscrupulous fishing companies and traders to avoid the regulations and controls (Firth 2006). As per the NGOS combating IUU fishing, the catches from fishing vessels flying flags of convenience are rarely and have never discharged in ports belonging to the flag states whereas the port authorities and the custom agencies all over the world should be given authority and means to inspect and control flags of convenience fishing vessels and to deny port entry to illegally operating vessels (Serrano, Xhafa & Fitcher 2011). In 2006 and 2007, Oceana, an interstate NGO concerned with ocean conservation, undertook a thorough investigation in Italy where it identified, documented, and reported the vessels that engage in IUU fishing. In countries like Morocco and France, NGO activists are involved in the investigation and denunciation of illegal fishing. The role also synchs with policy development and agenda setting where in order to influence the public administrators, the NGOs often organise their own events and processes in order to create opportunities for public administrations to interact with them (Ehler & Lagoni 2006). NGOs representing seafarers’ interests The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) ITF is a global union of trade unions with respect to the transport associated with different industries, shipping and aviation, that was founded in1896. ITF represents the interests of the union workers who are associated with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). ITF has its headquarters in London with strategic offices in various parts of the world (Jones, Qiu, & Santo 2011). International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA) The ICMA currently works with 28 NGOs towards the welfare of seafarers. The institution was founded in 1969 with each of the 28 organisations through epitomised across different churches and communities retaining their autonomy (Jones, Qiu & Santo 2011). It allows the extensive association. Hence, enabling a massive representation across the world. The seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) The agency was founded in 1834 providing an array of services for seafarers. With operations based out of North America, SCI provides services with respect to a seafarer’s personal, spiritual, and professional needs. These services also touch on the areas of education, pastoral care and legal help. Perhaps the most important of these is the free legal aid service that they provide exclusively to the seafarers. All in all, the SCI remains an organisation that values and acknowledges the immense work that is carried by sailors and its importance in shaping and influencing the robust economies (Brodie 2014; Karim 2014). International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) ISWAN is a charity dedicated to the seafarers needs such as provision of a free and confidential service to address the problems of an individual. ISWAN’s services designated to the rendering of help is known as the SeafareHelp, with assistance available throughout the year. The needs afforded include assistance ranging from poor wages and working conditions to just being able to talk to someone when in need (Kaufman & Lewin 2011). How seafarers’ interests have been advanced by these NGOs Also known as SRI, the Seafarers Rights International is a ground-breaking organisation that is dedicated to the advancement of seafarers’ rights and interests all over the world. It also conducts research pertaining to legal problems of the seafarers at national and international levels and education and training to protect and advance the legal rights of the seafarers (Alan 2005). After SRI’s highly successful launch, it was business for the Executive Director and international lawyer Deirdre Fitzpatrick with commitment to identifying legal loopholes that disadvantage seafarers and provide practical and robust solutions to their problems. In order for the Maritime Transportation System to be sustainable, seafarers and shipping lanes must be protected by the people who rely benefit or rely from sea trade. NGOS take protection measures responding to the threats that are posed to sea trade. For activities such as promotion of maritime security coordination and cooperation among or between states, organisations, regions, and industries. IMO has partnered with governments, international and regional organisations. According to Firth (2006); Serrano, Xhafa, and Fitcher (2011), IMO and other organisations have also been involved in supporting United Nations in its efforts against global terrorism and other issues related to maritime transport. In collaboration with the respective governments, they herald regional measures to address maritime security risks and the efforts to share information, as well as, knowledge and resources in combatting forms of maritime crime. As discussed above, NGOs are instrumental to the creation and fostering of safety culture and environmental stewardship in line with the stipulated global standards. In this note, activities are such as the promotion of a safety culture campaign and activities including the “Zero Accident” campaign, environmental stewardship campaigns and activities, continuing efforts which minimize the negative effects of shipping on the marine environment. It is achieved through the stakeholder participation in prevention, preparedness, and response (Alan 2005). Other activities also include the monitoring of the implementation and effectiveness of IMO instruments as per the guidelines to assess the loopholes necessitating further improvements, including better communication of information relating to accidents or casualties. IMO and other organisations collaborate with UN bodies, other NGOs such as MAIIF, seafarer’s representatives, and academic institutions (Ehler & Lagoni 2006). Obviously, a sustainable maritime transport will benefit from properly trained and educated seafarers. Such education, inclusive of refresher training and education upgrades should prioritise on safety and environmental awareness. Therefore, there is the need for IMO to coordinate with ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention for maritime training and education. Various NGOs in various countries are responsible for the continuous, global development of the maritime transport industry. Non-seagoing maritime professionals must also be trained and educated especially in the developing world. These NGOs also facilitate the training for legal, engineering, port careers, and ship management. Factors that can only be realised through maritime education (Brodie 2014). Key to a sustainable marine transportation system is the ship-shore interface via streamlining and standardisation of the documentation for both the delivery and reception of cargo, improving coordination and promotion of the use of electronic systems for the clearance of cargoes, ships, crew and passengers. NGOs are at the forefront of maintaining efficient port facilities to keep operational efficiency of ships at optimum to minimise spillages and; thus, environmental degradation (Karim 2014). Such include propeller polishing facilities and hull cleaning. To provide a holistic energy tactic to the whole system, they are involved in other practices such as the cargo logistics, port planning, the weather routing and just-in-time berthing. Innovation practices that allow for efficient ship operation and ship-to-shore interfacing should also be meticulously pursued. Other interests of seafarers represented include the continued development and implementation of efficiency measures for the ships, promotion of maritime trade facilitation through the regional and regional coordination and cooperation, coordination of initiatives for intelligent use of ports, cargo handling infrastructure and the terminal spaces, as well as, the assistance in ensuring infrastructure financing in developing countries. Such is achieved by collaborating with financial institutions such as the World Bank or the IMF (Jones, Qiu & Santo 2011). As the modern societies continue to advocate for clean air, there is need to have access to an ample amount of clean air (Karim 2014). NGOs are responsible for ensuring that generous reserves of clean energy such as LNG and the low-sulphur fuel oils. Sustainable Maritime Transportation System should promote partnerships between the energy supply industry and the shipping sector in a bid to address the need for bunkering facilities for the new fuel types. Conclusion Following the discussion, it is interesting to imagine how the world would be like today if the numerous NGOs did not exist or if they did but not act on the inadequate marine management by governments and greed of corporations. It is difficult to imagine the many species and natural habitats that would be lost were it not for the mobilisation and motivation of the multitudes of NGOs the world over (Kaufman & Lewin 2011). Regulations that govern the maritime industry come from the UK legislation and the EU legislation with agreements, conventions, and resolutions made by various UN agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). NGOs, however, continue to face and tackle numerous challenges in their involvement with the developing countries and other governments. These difficulties include the legislative differences, climatic conditions, funding, and implementation of the IMO instruments in the respective countries or their vessels. References Allan, K. J. J., 2005. Vessel Source Marine Pollution: The Law and Politics of International Regulation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brodie, P., 2014. Commercial Shipping Handbook. Florida: CRC Press. Ehlers, P., & Lagoni, R., 2006. International Maritime Organizations and their Contribution towards a Sustainable Marine Development. London: LIT Verlag Munster Publishers. Firth, S., 2006. Globalization and Governance in the Pacific Islands. Australia: ANUE Press. Grammencos, C., 2013. The Handbook of Maritime Economics & Business. London: Taylor & Francis Group. Jones, P. J. S. et al., 2011. Governing Marine Protected Areas - Getting the Balance. [Online] Available at: http://www.unep.org/ecosystemmanagement/Portals/7/governing-mpas-final-technical-report-web-res.pdf [Accessed 26 April 2015]. Karim S., 2014. Prevention of pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels: The potential and limits of the International Maritime Organization. New York; Springer Publishers. Kaufman, B E. & Lewin, D., 2014. Commercial Shipping Handbook. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Serrano, M. R., Xhafa, E., & Fitcher, M., 2011. Trade Unions and the Global Crisis: Labor’s Visions, strategies and responses, International Labor Office. Read More