Indian Maritime University organizes meet on One world One Ocean

Indian Maritime University (IMU) and the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) came together in Chennai for a panel discussion on ‘One World, One Ocean’ under the G20 University Connect initiative. 

In the forum, supported by the Science, Technology and International Relations program of NIAS, and the Centre for Policy Research in Maritime Studies, several experts participated. Welcoming the team, Dr Rajoo Balaji, Director of IMU, emphasised the importance of the ocean and underlined how the process will lead to preparing a policy brief for the consideration of the G20. 

The verticals discussed were S&T in maritime, maritime education and training (MET), blue economy, Polar Regions, maritime domain awareness, marine pollution, maritime heritage and global maritime initiatives.  Dr Sanjeev  Ranjan, Chairman, National Shipping Board, highlighted the initiatives of the Indian government through Sagarmala and MIV 2030. He recommended Green and resilient supply chains and digitisation for the G20 agenda. 

Dr Shailesh Nayak spoke on how G20 can leverage S&T in the maritime domain. He highlighted the key issues for maritime domain centres in energy transition, coastal tourism, coastal marine spatial planning and promoting sustainable practices for communities. 

Dr KM Sivakholundu, Professor at IMU, emphasised that school curricula must include ocean awareness.  Prof. D. Suba Chandran from NIAS spoke on ‘Why G20 should pursue Polar Regions as an integrated whole?’ He recommended an integrated polar science approach, polar disaster management, and a combined polar council for the Arctic, Antarctic and Himalayas. 

Dr V. Sampath, Former Advisor, Ministry of Earth Sciences, spoke on ‘What new steps can G20 pursue on Blue Economy?’ He suggested scientific cooperation among LDC, DC and UDCs at the policy level.  Dr Vedachalam, Scientist G, NIOT spoke on ‘A policy agenda on Maritime Underwater Domain.’ Deep sea mining for cobalt, gas hydrates, and climate financing was recommended. Prof. Sindhu Radhakrishna (NIAS) spoke on ‘A new marine biodiversity agenda for G20’, highlighting the key issues in climate change, overfishing and recommending holistic marine biodiversity protection in global regions Arya S. Pradeep and Mythrayi Harshavardhan (Research Associates, NIAS) spoke on ‘How to leverage maritime heritage in G20?’, by bringing in collective efforts between member nations for the conservation and upliftment of shared cultural resources. Padmashree Anandhan (Research Associate, NIAS) presented on ‘What are the new global maritime initiatives? How can G20 make use of them?’ She suggested a comparative research study to analyse the cost of technology, regeneration and exploration, and producing alternate materials instead of minerals.

The day-long event captured several interesting points which shall be elevated to the G20 Forum through the Indian government, the release added.