We are living in an intensely interconnected world. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has placed the world in an unprecedented situation. This crisis has generated human distress and an economic downturn that is impacting our efforts to improve livelihoods and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prior to the crisis, the maritime transport which moves the world’s food, energy and raw materials, as well as manufactured goods and components, carried more than 108.9 trillion tonne-km1 yearly. It carried more than 80 per cent of global trade by volume, and 60 to 70 per cent of global trade by value. Two million seafarers operated the world’s merchant ships. This made maritime transport vital to prosperity and sustainable development. Air transport carried about 4.5 billion passengers and 223 billion freight tonne-km in 2019,2 while airfreight represents 35 per cent of the value of goods shipped in all transport modes combined. The total number of licensed aviation professionals, which include pilots, air traffic controllers and licensed maintenance technicians, was 887,000 in 2019. 3 The inland transport modes (road, rail and inland navigation) provide vital links for intra-regional trade in all regions of the world. In the pan-European region they moved 6.15 trillion tonne-km by road, 6.09 trillion tonne-km by rail, and 654 billion tonne-km by inland waterways.(…)
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https://unctad.org/system/files/information-document/IMO-UNCTAD-2020-statement_en.pdf