Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy

Abstract

The global rush to develop the 'blue economy' risks harming both the marine environment and human wellbeing. Proactive, systematic and bold policies and actions are urgently required to chart an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable course for the blue economy.Concerns about the state of the world's oceans are widespread 1,2 . At the same time, interest in their untapped economic potential is escalating. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects that the contribution of the ocean to global GDP could double from US$1.5 trillion in 2010 to US$3 trillion by 2030 3 . Ocean sectors, including fisheries, aquaculture, marine tourism, bio-prospecting, seabed mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, and shipping, are heralded by numerous actors and nations as lucrative frontiers for investment. The 'blue economy' -a term that encapsulates international interest in the growth of ocean-based economic development -has been a central theme in numerous recent global ocean policy conferences 4,5 .

The SDGs and human well-being: a global analysis of synergies, trade-offs, and regional differences

“…Whilst all SDGs are important, our analysis shows that some are more relevant to well-being than others, and reveals some inherent tensions that involve trade-offs between current and future well-being. Since governments are dependent on the current cohort of electors to decide their fate 13 , more cautious policy is needed to resolve trade-offs, allowing for sustainable development that also optimises for human well-being 14 . Unpacking the SDGs in terms of well-being also shows how their relative importance varies across different regions, highlighting the need for differentiated policy priorities when advancing the 2030 Agenda.…”

Theorizing Social Sustainability and Justice in Marine Spatial Planning: Democracy, Diversity, and Equity

“…More precisely, in analyzing social sustainability (albeit, often implicitly), some authors view MSP as a form of "ocean grabbing" [22,23]; as exhibiting many symptoms of the post-political condition [5,6,9,24]. Others emphasize the exclusion of coastal communities' socio-cultural values and benefits [6,11,25], a failure to consider the rights, needs, knowledge, and livelihoods of small-scale fishers (SSFs) and the coastal communities that they are embedded in [6,10,12,26,27], and a narrow interpretation of Blue Economy geared to facilitating economic growth (with a lack of attention paid to social inequality implications) [12,27,28]. Others, while acknowledging MSP's constraining attributes, view it as a force for change-opening spaces for resisting hegemonic forces, and empowering various stakeholders with the capacity for collective action [5][6][7].…”

“…We have already emphasized the importance of considering social and environmental concerns in interaction. The interrelationships among the social dimensions, in relationship with environment-related factors in MSP and associated management actions, can either work to undermine or nurture human wellbeing and/or flourishing [26]. Analysis and evaluation of MSP therefore needs to consider how the multiple dimensions of sustainability interact.…”

Kua takoto te mānuka: mātauranga Māori in New Zealand ecology

“…Complex systems research on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals demonstrates that prioritising social justice will create wins for biodiversity (Bennett et al 2019;Dawes 2019). Being able to incorporate understandings from multiple knowledge systems is vital for a thorough understanding of the natural world (Allen et al 2014), and therefore critical in advancing ecology in Aotearoa.…”