Economic Assessment of Oceans for Sustainable Blue Economy Development

PUBLICATION DATE:

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

PUBLICATION TYPE:

Reports

STATUS:

Only Available Online

DESCRIPTION:

The potential linkages between blue economy, sustainable development and economic growth have been recognized in a number of international forums and documentations in recent years, such as the 2012 Changwon Declaration Toward an Ocean-based Blue Economy: Moving Ahead with the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia, and the Xiamen Declaration of the Fourth APEC Ocean-related Ministerial Meeting Towards a New Partnership through Ocean Cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region in 2014.

The blue economy, as discussed during the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2012, refers to a sustainable ocean-based economic model that is largely dependent on coastal and marine ecosystems and resources, but one that employs environmentally-sound and innovative infrastructure, technologies and practices, including institutional and financing arrangements, for meeting the goals of: (a) sustainable and inclusive development; (b) protecting our coasts and oceans, and reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities; (c) addressing water, energy and food security; (d) protecting the health, livelihoods and welfare of the people in the coastal zone; and (e) fostering an ecosystem-based climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.