Sustainability challenges for the modern shipping: legal analysis

• Main Author: Kolomiiets Yuliia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National University Odessa Law Academy 2019-10-01
• Series: Lex Portus
• Subjects: sustainable shipping; modern challenges; maritime law; digitalization; fiscal issues

It is well-known that 90% of international trade is carried by the sea, being the most important means of communication for economic and trade development. Because of nowadays technological development, shifting human needs and values, the shipping has been influenced by it also and shall reply on new challenges that appear behind. To maintain the balance between international trade and eco-caring, responding to modern issues, it is worth discovering shipping within the sustainability concept, which includes three pillars like environment, society, and economy and grounding on a legal basis. The roots of it refer to 1980s and United Nations, defining sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Then in 2016, it was embarked structured plan to change the world: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In my opinion, shipping must not be an exception also. Social pillar connected with human rights protection, involving different subjects as seafarers, as people in general effect by shipping activity. By the same token, there could be stressed out subject, which secures this pillar like International organizations (as inter-governmental as non-governmental), states, ship-owners, etc. Third economic pillar concerns preventing to use financial tricks, getting around frauds like money laundering, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance for easy earning. One of the sources is in a free port zone. Besides, digitalization can help to improve maritime activity accounting sustainability. New cloud-based technologies such as big data platforms and digital twin technologies help to manage information, make decisions more quickly or reduce paper bureaucracy. Moreover, in 2019 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development proposed three stages for its accomplishment like optimization, extension, and transformation.