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Beware the Beaufort Scale: The Blue Economy's Different Shades


At the Oeiras Bluetech Ocean Forum held on October 16 and 17, 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal, Responsible Alpha Director Hermen Westerbeeke addressed the danger of “Blue Economy” becoming a label that is equated with sustainable, equitable, and responsible activities and discussed the different shades of blue the Blue Economy comes in. 


Why it matters 


  • While the Green Economy is a globally accepted term to refer to low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive non-anthropogenic economic activities, yet the Blue Economy is not simply the ocean part of this Green Economy. 

  • Blue Economy is generally viewed as referring to sustainable, equitable, and responsible activities but is also used to refer to activities that clearly are not. 

  • The Blue Economy concept needs a definition and founding principles for all blue economy-related work through the lens of conservation and sustainable use across the globe. 

  • The overlap between Nature-based Solutions and Blue Economy should only contain solutions that make a positive contribution. Maintaining the status quo is not good enough! 


Origins of the Blue Economy 


The term Blue Economy has its origins in the global discussions on the environment, climate change, and sustainable development that culminated in the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development of 1992, a.k.a. The Earth Summit.


At the Earth Summit, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) concluded that it did not make sense for them to talk about the Green Economy with its terrestrial focus and moved to broaden the debate.


Next, the Belgian economist Gunter Pauli is credited in coming up with the concept of a Blue Economy in 1994, the year he created Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI). In 2009 the ZERI Report "The Blue Economy: 100 innovations - 10 years - 100 million jobs" was submitted to and accepted by the Club of Rome.


By 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the Rio+20 Summit, Blue Economy was recognised as encompassing all economic activities in the maritime sector, provided that these were consistent with sustainable development.


Three years earlier, however, Pacific Island Countries declared through the IUCN Oceania Regional Office that the challenges of protecting and preserving the health of marine and coastal ecosystems and living marine resources were critical. 


At the same time terms like Marine Economy, Maritime Economy, Ocean Economy, and Coastal Economy have been around for much longer than Blue Economy, so it is high time to create some clarity around the use of all these terms. 


Towards a regenerative Blue Economy 


In an effort to distinguish between different Blue Economy activities, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with the support of the French Development Cooperation (AFD) developed a framework of defining three types of a Blue Economy from the perspective of conservation and sustainable development. 


  • The Brown Blue Economy refers to the anthropocentric use of Ocean resources that has been around as long as mankind itself. It is based on a conventional and neoclassical economic model that sees the Ocean as an endless resource.

  • The Green Blue Economy is the aquatic version of the terrestrial Green Economy that is consistent with sustainable development and for us at Responsible Alpha should integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance issues.   

  • The Regenerative Blue Economy goes one step further by being an actor in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss and contributing positively to these issues. The term Ocean-positive Economy has already been used in this context. In economic terms, a regenerative Blue Economy seeks robust sustainability and recognises the principle of non-substitution for natural capital as the basis, implying that the priority is the conservation of blue natural capital. 


The excellent report detailing this framework entitled “Mapping Flows of Blue Economy Finance - Mapping the Blue Economy” is available in French and English


Definition and Founding Principles


A regenerative Blue Economy is an economic model that combines rigorous and effective regeneration and protection of the Ocean and marine and coastal ecosystems with sustainable, low, or no carbon economic activities, and fair prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future. 


  • The protection, restoration, resilience, and regeneration of marine and coastal ecosystems, marine resources, and natural capital are priorities. Combating climate change and biodiversity losses are included in this list. The precautionary principle is applied when the impacts of an activity on marine and coastal ecosystems are still poorly understood. The ecosystem approach must be applied. 

  • The economic system set up around regenerative Blue Economy must prioritise inclusion, fairness, and solidarity, guarantee the well-being and resilience of impacted populations, and reduce their vulnerability to climate change. It must be economically sustainable and supported by responsible sources of funding that subscribe to these same principles. 

  • Regenerative Blue Economy must have an inclusive and participatory governance system, with a transparent approach for reliable, scientifically grounded assessments. The system must be flexible, with ad hoc legal and regulatory instruments, and it must be integrated into international agreements and commitments on climate change and biodiversity conservation. 

  • Regenerative Blue Economy must have low or no carbon activities with a positive impact on the regeneration of marine and coastal ecosystems and the well-being of local populations. It must follow the principles of a sustainable circular economy by saving marine resources and minimising waste. 

  • Regenerative Blue Economy must be implemented as a priority in island States with specific requirements. It must take into account the needs of coastal populations, Indigenous peoples in particular, and recognise their traditions. 


So what? 


The recent article “Mapping flows of blue economy finance: Ambitious narratives, opaque actions, and social equity risks” by Marleen Simone Schutter et al, an analysis of $5.9 billion blue-economy-labelled money flows disbursed between 2017 and 2021 shows $23 million going into “Oil/Gas/Seabed Mining”. It may be a mere 0.4% of the $5.9 billion total, but it nonetheless illustrates the problem of the label “Blue Economy”: it does not guarantee your investment is making a positive difference.  


For Impact Investors, who want their investments to make a positive difference to the development of our society, the Ocean presents a huge opportunity. The critical ecosystem services it provides are indispensable to life on Earth. Yet at the same time the Ocean is the “Great Unknown” of our planet with three-quarters of the seafloor still unmapped and our understanding of its role in Earth System well behind that of the Land and the Atmosphere. There are no simple answers to what is a good and what is a bad investment when it comes to the Blue Economy, but being aware of the different shades a blue in the Blue Economy is a good start. 

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