Maritime global critical infrastructure - Project Overview
IRGC’s first project focusing on critical infrastructures concluded with the publication in 2006 of the IRGC White Paper entitled “Managing and Reducing Social Vulnerabilities from Coupled Critical Infrastructures”, also the title of an IRGC policy brief published in 2008.
The project on the risk governance of Maritime Global Critical Infrastructure (MGCI) was launched in 2009 by IRGC in collaboration with our project partner, the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) at Kyoto University in Japan. The project’s focus is on one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, carrying around 25% of all world trade and half of the world’s shipped crude oil. They are a strategic passage for global trade, a source of oil, mineral and mangrove resources, and a centre for the Earth’s marine and coastal biodiversity. Locally, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore derive different economic benefits from the Straits, but jointly shoulder the burden of environmental, safety and security risks. Globally, outsiders which depend on passage, especially Japan, China and Korea, would be negatively impacted by disasters that could lead to disruptions in the Straits. As such, the Straits constitute a prime example of a MGCI that supports economies and societies locally and worldwide.
Global Critical Infrastructure (GCI) offers a new perspective on emerging critical infrastructure systems characterised by globally and internationally connected critical infrastructure networks of a high level of complexity. Responsible risk governance of GCI requires a broadened perspective to creatively manage risks in increasingly complex, stressed systems. It can help improve resilience and the capacity of stakeholders in the Straits to cope with surprises. This may be accomplished by being proactive in the development of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery strategies to deal with known, uncertain and unknown hazards (adapted from IRGC, 2005).
In 2009 and 2010, the project sponsored expert workshops in Kyoto, Japan, to provide a neutral platform for dialogue between relevant stakeholders and for the development of recommendations.
Workshop I
A first workshop on risk governance of maritime global critical infrastructure at Kyoto University on 4-5 June 2009 convened participants from North and Southeast Asia and India, as well as from academia, industry, government and non-governmental organisations. The purpose of the workshop was to share lessons learned and to discuss the vulnerabilities of the Straits of Malacca, the potential consequences of extreme events, and their implications for risk governance. The deliberations are summarised in the following document:
The workshop concluded that effective risk assessment and management are hampered by knowledge gaps and insufficient communication between stakeholders. Participants agreed that a common language had to be developed in order to generate adequate knowledge about risks, which, in turn, would enable strategic and timely decision-making about cross-boundary risks in the region. As a result of the activities in 2009, IRGC and DPRI also outlined its insights and the plans for the next phase of the project:
Workshop II
The second workshop on risk governance of maritime global critical infrastructure was held at Kyoto University on 6–7 November 2010. It intended to bring together the perspectives of private sector practitioners, policymakers, and academic researchers with an interest or stake in the Straits (locally, regionally and globally). The objectives of this workshop were:
To work on scenarios by setting up devastating major target situations (such as closure of the Straits), identify potential hazards and threats as well as likely consequences;
To examine the reasoning and assumed logic (hypotheses) used to analyse and validate the identified issues of major concern;
To identify the risk governance deficits and propose initial recommendations.
The main conclusions drawn from Workshop II included the need for information sharing to expand the current governance frameworks in the Straits, the need to systematize knowledge generation and management of risks in the Straits, and the need to continue improving upon the state of knowledge and common understanding of risk governance of maritime global critical infrastructure by involving more stakeholders from the private and public sectors.
Project outcomes
The two workshops and initial scenario-based discussions held in 2009 and late 2010 showed that beyond traditional maritime casualties, there are trans-boundary threats and risk cascades that affect both land and sea with regional and global consequences. The scenarios revealed potential risk governance deficits, including: insufficient awareness to new threats, inadequacy of early warning systems, unequal organisational capacity and burden sharing among littoral and user states, and the difficulty of dealing with dispersed responsibilities among stakeholders with diverging interests. Five key recommendations were formulated to address these issues, which are included in an IRGC Report published in November 2011.
Related Event:
IAME 2012 Taipei
The International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Conference on 6-8 September 2012 in Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China, will provide a unique global conference for academics, key industry practitioners, and policy makers from diverse backgrounds and interests to meet, discuss and debate critical and challenging issues that will affect the future direction of international shipping, port and logistics research and practice. Please see the conference website for more information at: http://www.iame2012.org
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