#IESTurningtheTide: Systems thinking for a sustainable ocean – Blue Economy wrap-up

• Unlocking the sustainable Blue Economy: From vision to realisation
• Speed Networking: Working across disciplines and sectors to solve environmental challenges
• Roundtable: The role of the blue economy in achieving a sustainable ocean

At present, there is not a clear and commonly accepted definition of what constitutes the Blue Economy. A common narrative for the Blue Economy is one that encompasses all of the activities that happen in the marine and coastal environment which lead to economic gains. There is a big difference between an extractive Blue Economy that might include activities that we don’t consider to be part of a sustainable Blue Economy, and a more regenerative one. 

Strong definitions for what a sustainable Blue Economy is do exist, including that from WWF which is being adopted by some organisations. This defines a sustainable Blue Economy as “a marine-based economy that provides social and economic benefits for current and future generations, restores, protects and maintains diverse productive and resilient marine ecosystems, and one that is based on clean technologies, renewable energy and circular material flows.”

To support the transition to a sustainable Blue Economy and away from business as usual we require a common understanding at an international level of what constitutes a sustainable Blue Economy, and how this is different from the general Blue Economy. 

The Blue Economy is growing. To ensure that the Blue Economy grows in a sustainable way, we need to ensure it is underpinned by the concept of marine natural capital, putting marine natural assets and ecosystems at the heart of decision-making. Understanding marine natural capital can help us to effectively value marine environments and the ecosystem services they provide. Marine natural capital approaches also help us to view the marine environment and related economic activities in an interconnected way, rather than as standalone industries, supporting decision-makers in making fully informed decisions and understanding the relevant trade-offs and impacts. It can, therefore, be used as a key tool for understanding the impact of extractivist approaches and helping us to move away from this towards regenerative approaches that work for people and nature. 

Natural capital accounting allows stakeholders to measure and value the ocean’s natural assets and related ecosystem services. For an area of the environment where it is difficult to see degradation occurring and that has historically been undervalued, natural capital accounting allows us not just to look at the value of what we take out, but also the long-term damage that's being done by human activities. This in turn can provide important insights into how we can amend our practices to support marine conservation and restoration efforts and can support decision-making which considers the marine environment and Blue Economy in a consistent and holistic way.

Advocacy will also be key in supporting marine natural capital approaches. Improved ocean literacy can help key stakeholders understand how much value is provided by the ocean and how much we are relying upon it for human health, wellbeing and growth.    

There isn't enough finance or funding at the moment to enable the transition towards a sustainable Blue Economy. More finance will be needed to support the restoration, protection and sustainable management of the ocean's natural assets, which are the bedrock of a sustainable Blue Economy. More work needs to be done to attract both public and private investment into ocean environments to support this work and develop a truly sustainable Blue Economy. 

One reason for a lack of finance for marine environments is the high risk associated with them. This can be due to data limitations and the lack of an enabling environment for insurance and risk mitigation. We need to reduce the risks to attract private sector finance going forward, and re-direct private finance sector investments away from destructive industries. To enable this, at a government level we need to see strong regulation and sustainable Blue Economy plans put in place that prioritise the ocean’s natural assets, such as those developed in Scotland and Portugal.

Scientists need to provide evidence that can be easily interpreted by key stakeholders to support the transition to a sustainable Blue Economy. Robust data and evidence is needed to support innovative schemes aligned with the sustainable Blue Economy and support investor confidence. Scaling up public funding also helps to reduce risk for private investors and is an important tool for leveraging private finance in new and emerging areas. Whilst there is a need for greater research and data, this shouldn’t delay the work we do now and we must also support pilot projects that are pioneering new technologies and methodologies and can inform future practice. 

Ocean accounting is also likely to play a key role in strengthening the enabling environment, which is a method for measuring all the environmental assets, economic activity and social conditions linked with marine and coastal environments. Distinct from marine natural capital accounting which specifically focuses on the economic valuation of marine ecosystem services and natural capital, ocean accounting has a broader focus, encompassing a wide range of marine-related data and aspects. Having these integrated records of regularly compiled and comparable data allows us to gain a holistic view of the marine environment and the value of the services that the ocean provides, which can support integrated ocean management. For governments, an advantage of doing this is being able to improve their credit rating, and therefore improve access to finance. 

In terms of managing our marine and coastal environments, we need to recognise that there are many different stakeholders involved, each with their own interests and challenges. To address these equitably, we need a participatory approach with governments, businesses and local communities, supporting constructive dialogue and knowledge exchange. Through taking this approach we can create a favourable legislative and financial landscape (or seascape), where the most sustainable approach becomes the best approach economically too. We also need to ensure that establising a sustainable Blue Economy is underpinned by the principle of environemntal justice. 

Marine science is critical for underpinning decision making aligned with a sustainable Blue Economy, yet there's a lack of capacity globally in marine science. This hinders the ability to develop evidence-based policy and practice, needed to support the implementation of sustainable Blue Economy projects on the ground in a way that is appropriate for the local context. 

Upskilling policymakers and key stakeholders in ocean literacy and using science and evidence for decision-making is integral to improving ocean governance and management. More training and capacity-building activities should therefore be done with key stakeholders, and marine scientists should be upskilled to act as agents of change in society, through the development of relevant enabling skills in science communication, strategic thinking, policy-making etc.  Increasing the capacity generally in the marine sciences through increasing the numbers of those working within the sector is also vital and should be supported by increasing ED&I in the sector and supporting new career pathways.

Technology will also be a key enabler in supporting increased capacity and capability. We need to consider access to technology and associated training, ensuring that it is accessible and affordable, particularly to those in the global South.

Partnership building will be a key component in strengthening the scientific evidence base through targeting data collection and research towards delivering specific outcomes. There’s a lot of opportunity for scientists and businesses to work together on applied science projects, for example building partnerships with businesses that operate within the ocean to collect data.

Innovation is going to be key to delivering a sustainable Blue Economy. Business as usual is a lose-lose, and something which we need to escape from. Innovative new business models will be needed to support a move away from business as usual, as well as bringing in new business to the Blue Economy that is truly sustainable, investable, and aligns with the definition of a sustainable economy.

Autonomous and remote sensing technology will play a key role in this as it can start to monitor the ocean in ways we haven’t been able to before, supporting improved understanding and modeling of marine environments. This will allow us to measure the impacts of different projects and build relevant databases, all of which can support investment.  We need to make the data that is collected widely available to inform future investment decisions, which will feed into strengthening the enabling environment. For this, there’s a need for new data platforms that bring all this information together in a in a way that is accessible, interoperable and understood by sectors outside of marine science.

There are challenges and areas where we need to innovate as a priority, for example clean shipping. We need to unlock innovation through regulation that allows us to consider the interconnectedness of issues and ways of addressing them, for example through promoting circular economy and systems thinking approaches.