How can Small Islands harness the Blue Economy to build Climate Resilience and Protect Biodiversity?
Catherine Jadot, PhD
Blue Economy | Biodiversity and Climate Change Expert | Nature-based Solutions Practitioner | Optimistic Keynote Speaker
Small islands support a disproportionate amount of biodiversity. They are also amongst the most vulnerable to human colonization and the adverse effects of climate change, such as sea-level rise, changes in precipitation patterns, and increases in tropical storm intensity and frequency. There is growing recognition of the need to develop strategies specifically designed for small islands’ typically unique ecological fragility and economic vulnerability alongside the numerous opportunities they also possess. The recent COVID-19 crisis exacerbated the need to find sustainable Blue Economy initiatives that incorporate social, economic, and ecological goals that will also allow to diversify the economy. To reach these goals, four key components have been identified. Long-term ecosystem-based marine spatial management (EB-MSM) (1) and multi-level cooperation between islands (2) will be paramount. The advancement of ocean science and technology (3) will equally be key contributors to enabling a responsible and sustainable Blue Economy. Finally, better governance, policies, and regulations (4) must be implemented at the global, regional, national, and local levels to protect our oceans, mobilize partnerships, boost blue investments, and build island resilience.
Sustainable Blue Economy
A sustainable Blue Economy provides social and economic benefits for current and future generations, by contributing to food security, poverty eradication, livelihoods, income, employment, health, safety, equity, and political stability (Lieberknecht, 2020). Since the term Blue Economy was coined by Gunter Pauli in 2004, the definition has evolved over the years. Indeed, in the early days, the Blue Economy included a notion of Blue Growth to mirror the central goal of economic policy around the world: economic growth. However, the notion of continued growth in perpetuity has been challenged as it seems now evident that perpetual growth can’t be achieved within the boundaries of the planetary ecosystems (Meadows et al. 1972, Raworth 2017, Rockstr?m et al. 2009).
The Doughnut Economy
Over the past decade, new paradigms have emerged that reframe what the Blue Economy is or should be. Lieberknecht (2020) synthetizes these new paradigms as the “Blue Doughnut” to mirror the Doughnut Economy model developed in 2017 by Kate Raworth, an economist at the University of Oxford, UK, where the economy is regenerative, distributive, and circular. Using the visual metaphor of a doughnut: the outer edge represents the planetary ecosystem boundaries that the economy cannot overshoot, the ecosystem ceiling, and the inner edge represents the social foundation, the societal objectives that need to be achieved to prevent people from falling into the hole (figure 1).
From there, activities and investments can be prioritized, with a focus on activities and investments that address human well-being shortfalls (preventing people from falling in the hole or pulling them out) and on those that reduce the most our contributions to planetary ecosystems boundaries overshoot.
领英推荐
Dealing with Policy Silos
Multi-level cooperation between islands is crucial to reap the full potential of the Blue Economy. The policy silos that exist between islands to manage marine resources is increasingly being recognized as an impediment to reach to true transformation. Transforming our world and shifting towards sustainable development requires interaction. Islands must learn to dance together, guided by the rhythm of a shared vision and coherent policies that encourage working together and sharing data. Better interaction and integration within the islands will also be necessary to break governance silos. In many SIDS, there is a lack of cross-ministerial mechanisms for coordination of efforts to capitalize on the potential of the Blue Economy. Ministries of Fisheries, Transport, Energy, Tourism, Commerce, and the Environment must create together a choreography that will increase interconnected governance for marine affairs.
Ocean science and the private sector
Finally, the advancement of ocean science and technology will equally be key in enabling a responsible and sustainable Blue Economy. It will allow us to fill the knowledge gaps that hinder our progression towards these goals such as limited data availability, our limited knowledge of the sensitivity of various ecosystem components to stressors, or the current and future interactions among stakeholders and possible conflict mitigation options. It will also allow us to respond to the expanding demand for ocean-derived food, materials, and energy by making them more accessible and affordable for all.
The private sector is an essential stakeholder in ocean health and sustainability. Harnessing the power of innovation of businesses and enabling partnerships with other stakeholders will lead to concrete actions and fit-for-purpose solutions including capacity building and technology transfer, financing, funding, generation of information and data, as well as reinforcing networks of experts working together for a common goal (UNESCO/IOC, 2020).
As a new world emerges from the 2020 crisis, small island nations' business and political leaders have the opportunity to rebuild better by harnessing the potential of the Blue Economy to pave the way for more sustainable and resilient communities.
Got comments? Did I miss something? Let me know below!
?__________________________________________________________________
Catherine?provides turnkey solutions to environmental challenges and strategic sustainability consulting to help communities and governments in small island nations become more resilient and less vulnerable to our changing environment.?
Environmental Consulting and Laboratory Science
3 年Really enjoyed this article!
Eagleray Empress ~ Oceanpreneur, Estate Agent & Conservation Biologist
3 年So excited to read this!
Executive Director at Bahamas Protected Areas Fund
3 年Thank you for an excellent article Catherine. On point! SIDS are in an existential crisis, from climate change and the pandemic. Coming together as you have stressed is a critical means of ensuring actions that net us urgent benefits. But we need political will. Environmentalists must convince island nations of the crisis. Convince our partners in other sectors and the man and woman on the street and let them together with us, keep the pressure on our leaders to band together and to create the framework and policies needed not just to advance the Blue Economy but to save lives! We are running out of time.
C-suite advisor on corporate strategy and intentional sustainability transformations. Founder of the Living Labs Federation. Angel Investing. 20yr+ P&L experience in MNCs.
3 年Very interesting Nassima Sadar
CEO, World Ocean Council - The Global Blue Economy Business & Investment Organization - advancing "Corporate Ocean Responsibility"
3 年Catherine, good to see this article and (your other articles) and the good feedback from Nirmal, as there are efforts that many of us have been engaged in for many decades. There are inherent geographic, demographic, structural, and system level challenges and now appear in the Blue Economy focus. Engaging the private sector leadership, collaboration and action across the sectors/silos is one of the key aspects of making progress on sustainable development in SIDS, which is the focus of the World Ocean Council's efforts.