Securing blue wealth: The need for a special sustainable development goal for the ocean and coasts

Abstract

The ocean regulates the global climate, provides humans with natural resources such as food, materials, important substances, and energy, and is essential for international trade and recreational and cultural activities. Together with human development and economic growth, free access to, and availability of, ocean resources and services have exerted strong pressure on marine systems, ranging from overfishing, increasing resource extraction, and alteration of coastal zones to various types of thoughtless pollution. Both economic theory and many case studies suggest that there is no "tragedy of the commons" but a "tragedy of open access". With high likeliness, structures of open access are non-sustainable. International cooperation and effective governance are required to protect the marine environment and promote the sustainable use of marine resources in such a way that due account can be taken of the environmental values of current generations and the needs of future generations. For this purpose, developing and agreeing on one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) specifically for the Ocean and Coasts could prove to be an essential element. The new SDGs will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and replace them by 2015. Ensuring environmental sustainability in a general sense is one of the eight MDGs but the ocean is not explicitly addressed. Furthermore, the creation of a comprehensive underlying set of ocean sustainability targets and effective indicators developed within a global Future Ocean Spatial Planning (FOSP) process would help in assessing the current status of marine systems, diagnosing ongoing trends, and providing information for inclusive, forward-looking, and sustainable ocean governance.

Towards a sustainability management system for smaller ports

“…The need for sustainable development has been articulated widely, but in a recent exegesis by Visbeck et al [3] "blue wealth" refers "collectively to the wealth created by the various services and assets" that oceans provide. Following a comprehensive review of the challenges presented by attempts to sustain blue wealth, the authors advocated that a new sustainable development goal specific to oceans and coasts be appended to the UN Rio þ20's (UNR20) current goals [3].…”

“…Following a comprehensive review of the challenges presented by attempts to sustain blue wealth, the authors advocated that a new sustainable development goal specific to oceans and coasts be appended to the UN Rio þ20's (UNR20) current goals [3]. The "future of our society" is highlighted, given that 90% of fishing occurs in coastal waters [4] and that the impacts of coral reef degradation on the shoreline and flooding [5] then impact regional and national economies, employment, welfare and the interconnectedness of coastal sustainability.…”

“…Both can be severely affected by unsustainable coastal management [3]. If European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) classifications in which smaller ports mostly seek specific niches and frequently provide cargo-handling and technical-nautical services such as pilotage, towage and mooring [7] are applied to CAD ports, the latter is ubiquitous, but cargo handling is not.…”

Sustainable Development in China’s Coastal Area: Based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Welfare-Response Framework and the Data Envelopment Analysis Model

“…With rapid economic development exhausting land resources, people have begun focusing on the sea [1], which is becoming increasingly important for sustaining the economy [2,3], especially in China [4]. The Marine Society of China is in a stage of all-round development; however, is remains subject to certain problems, such as insufficiency in the basic strength of the sea, the imbalance of regional development, and the deterioration of the marine ecological environment [5].…”

Studies on Charges for Sea Area Utilization Management and Its Effect on the Sustainable Development of Marine Economy in Guangdong Province, China

“…It has become more and more challenging since 2000 to manage the sea area effectively with the increasing demands of sea use, the prominence of sea use conflicts and the aggravation of the shortage of sea area resources. There is an urgent need to improve the comprehensive management capability in marine exploration, protection and control in order to adapt to the new situation of marine management and promote the sustainable management of the marine economy [1][2][3]. In 1992, the Rio Declaration defined sustainability theory.…”