By Fola Ademosu
In the bid to draw attention to the legal and policy imperatives for the use of sustainable technologies in international commerce, a group of legal experts and tech innovators under the auspices of the Conference of Maritime and Legal Research (CMLR), has organised a dialogue session to examine the various prevailing challenges to its deployment.
Organised by the CMLR convener and co-convener, Dr Aniekan Akpan and Mr. Muyiwa Ayojimi respectively, the conference received presentations from international commercial law expert, Ms Líssia Queiroz De Menezes, and Ms Michelle Schiott of the Flanagan, Barone & O’ Brien LLC.
In the paper she delivered, Líssia spoke on green hydrogen technology and the global energy crisis, lamenting the lack of a globally accepted regulation for green hydrogen in the renewable energy sector.
It was agreed that absence of such a regulation undermines the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals item 7, and 11, both of which advocate affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all), and the need to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
On her own part, Michelle spoke on hydroponics technology, which focuses on alternative farming methods. She highlighted both the absence of an effective international legal framework and the controversies the innovation has generated in some countries as to whether farm produce sired from the use of hydroponic technology are organic.
Again, the CMLR noted that such disputes are antithetical to achieving UN SDG 2, which calls for an end to hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Similarly, the conference believed that the criticisms against hydroponic produce could make the UN SDG 7 — which urges access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all — difficult to achieve across a broad spectrum of the expected implementers.
In the face of the existential threats posed by global warming to planet earth, speaker Paul Ekins (OBE), professor of Resources and Environment Policy at the University College, London, called for an urgent development of acceptable regulations that impose carbon emissions reduction in infrastructure provisions. Based on Paul’s perspective, the lack of such a regulation could impact global GDP as he also faulted countries, who have avowed but failed to reduce their carbon footprints. The conference was equally concerned that such behaviours are at variance with multilateral obligations to ensuring decent work and economic growth; achieving responsible consumption and production, and taking urgent action against climate change and it’s impacts — as provided by under the UN SDG 8, 12, and 13 respectively.
Speaking on intellectual push for necessary policy directions from stakeholders on sustainable technologies, the event’s co-convener Ayojimi said that the CMLR’s objective is to promote “the shared vision of a more sustainable, inclusive, and responsible technological ecosystem.”
“Together, we can ensure that the promise of sustainable technologies is matched by sound laws, balanced commercial practices, and forward-looking policies that serve both people and the planet.”
On why he and his colleagues, albeit being lawyers, are driving the international research in the technology field, Ayojimi said, “ As legal innovators and tech enthusiasts, we are simply showing that technology has no boundaries and anyone, regardless of the person’s immediate field, can push the frontiers of knowledge and implementation of
sustainability ideas based on appropriate and responsible technology adoption.”
*Fola Ademosu is a journalist with over a decade experience and covers the general beat
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