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Oceans cover three-quarters of the globe, and a staggering 80% of all life on Earth is found hidden beneath their waves. They also represent an enormous economic opportunity, which is why the “blue economy” is driven by a combination of growing ocean-based industries and jobs as well as concerns about growing pressures on dwindling marine resources and response to climate change.
While traditional maritime industries such shipping, ports, offshore oil and gas, capture fisheries, maritime and coastal tourism continue to innovate, emerging ocean industries are gaining traction. These industries include offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, seabed mining, marine aquaculture and biotechnology.
However, the predicted growth of the blue economy must not come at the expense of marine ecosystems and biodiversity. As such, a dramatic shift is necessary in how the world develops the ocean’s potentials so as not to compromise the marine resource base on which they rely. A healthy ocean will have more than just economic benefits. It will improve health and well-being, and enhance the resilience of the planet to support a long-term future.
Created a Post in Blue Economy
The EC Council just adopted new conclusions for the EU biodiversity strategy, which includes "creating a coherent network of well-managed protected areas... to protect at least 30% of the EU’s sea area"!
Samoan government pledges to manage 100% and protect 30% of its ocean area. Listen to the podcast and watch the video about this important new strategy. Read the full strategy here: https://www.mnre.gov.ws/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Samoa-Ocean-Strategy…
Check out this great new podcast by WRI on sustainable #ocean economies
Check out the Panda Pod's latest podcast on oceans, environmental education, and sustainable seafood
New WEF blog by Ghislaine Llewellyn at WWF on how building with nature can lead a green recovery for our coasts. Mangrove forests are the best-documented example of natural or green infrastructure. Recent estimates of their economic value for flood risk reduction exceed $65 billion a year.
Marine litter is a global problem that affects every ocean of the world. Enrol in this free online course on marine litter, available in 10 different languages, from UNEP, the Global Partnership on Marine Litter and Open Universiteit.
The ocean economy is currently at risk from multiple stressors, ranging from overextraction, direct habitat damage, pollution and climate change. Continuing with this ‘business-as-usual’ trajectory poses great risks to the health and integrity of the ocean and therefore to the world’s population. Ocean finance can play a critical role in changing this trajectory and helping to achieve a sustainable ocean economy (SOE).
The High-level panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’s paper finds that many potential actions can be taken by the private and public sectors to remove existing barriers and open the pipeline to investment in a SOE.
A new Planet Tracker report urges investors to engage with seafood processors to adopt traceability solutions to improve sustainability, profit margins and risk exposure.
This report shows how seafood processing companies could become significantly more profitable and help increase the sustainability of the entire seafood industry by investing in traceability solutions (and notably the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability standards).