Korea urged to lead in green shipping

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Monday, 11 May 2009

Korean shipbuilding has shown enormous leadership around the world and it is now the time for the industry and the country to become more eco-friendly. "The (Korean) shipping industry could take a role in developing renewable energy shipping which already has very low carbon impact as compared to trucks and trains," Timothy Mack, president of World Future Society said during an interview with The Korea Herald.
The nation's shipping industry could also strive to reduce climate change and other variables in the future to make the industry more viable and sustainable, he said.
He went on to explain that Korea should develop risk assessment technologies, not just for weather and piracy, but also for global economic risks.
"All of these are areas where Korean shipping could be not only economically viable, but sustainable."
Mack is currently in Seoul to participate in an international symposium designed to gather ideas to make the upcoming 2012 Yeosu World Expo a success. Mack is the head of the World Future Society, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the study of forecasts, trends and ideas about the future. He is also the publisher of FUTURIST magazine.
During the symposium, he said that Korea's coastline puts it in position to gain international respect for sustainable systems, energy sources and ocean resource management strategies.
Ocean utilization through sustainable means - including biotechnology as well as ocean chemical and pharmaceutical research and development - will offer greater advantages to Korea, he mentioned.
In this way, Korea is an ideal host of the expo, Mack said, pointing out the country is good at creating innovative solutions and is forward thinking about the future.
"If we define blue economy as being both new creative solutions and ocean based industries, the opportunities are extraordinary and I am very optimistic what the expo would be able to accomplish (those)," he said.
Source: Korea Herald