Business programme

Time to Blur the Ocean’s Borders: The Potential for International Integration Projects

04 Jun , 17:00–18:15
Joining Forces to Advance Development
Congress Centre, conference hall B2

The recent disruption to maritime routes underscored just how much global trade depends on uninterrupted shipping operations. Indeed, it will be crucial for major logistics projects such as the Northern Sea Route and International North–South Transport Corridor. Leading maritime nations are taking steps to develop offshore projects and build trade fleets and tankers. In order to effectively capitalize on the world ocean’s resources, it will be essential to make a number of breakthroughs in development technologies, ship construction, and equipment manufacturing. More than 80% of global trade by volume is carried by sea, including a third of the world’s extracted hydrocarbons, and almost 20% of the total volume of consumed bioresources. In the coming years, thousands of cutting-edge nuclear-powered vessels will be transporting freight and people both reliably and economically. The total area of aquaculture sites could exceed that of farmland, and serve as a universal source of food and bio-feedstock. However, microplastic pollution is a major issue. Ultimately, the oceans have a major bearing on the climate, and in order to protect it, sustainable development is essential. Will people live in the ocean, and how will a future “water world” look? What engineering and environmental solutions are Russian shipbuilders prepared to offer in order to capitalize on resources and develop maritime transport corridors? How would these solutions employ nuclear power, LNG, renewable energy sources, zero-emission systems, and modular approaches to construction and production platforms? What are the prospects for maritime trade growth and global shipbuilding? How might maritime technologies be employed to build infrastructure, including in regions that are hard to access, such as the Arctic? Are international collaboration projects on protecting oceans feasible, and what specific innovations are already being applied?

Moderator
Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Director of Programmes of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC); Associate Professor at MGIMO University

Panellists
Philippe Cousteau Jr., Scientist, Journalist (online)
Lewis Pugh, Ocean Advocate, Patron of the Oceans, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (online)
Alexey Rakhmanov, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, United Shipbuilding Corporation
Vyacheslav Ruksha, Deputy Director General – Director for the Northern Sea Route Directorate, State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO (online)
Matthew Sagers, Vice President for Oil and Gas, Head of Russian and Caspian Energy Advisory Service, IHS Markit
Roman Trotsenko, Founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors, AEON Corporation
Mads Frederiksen, Director, Arctic Economic Council

Front row participants
Nikita Dobroslavsky, Director of the Arctic Dialogue Program, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO
Alexander Pinsky, General Director, Maritime High Tech Association, MARINET
Dmitry Purim, Chairman of the Board, Sovfracht

Broadcast