The UK Government could give us more blue jobs: Here’s how

Blue jobs - which should be seen as those that actively promote and enhance the value of the marine environment to society - are a largely untapped source of employment and support for coastal communities. These jobs could come from a range of areas including management of habitats and nature-based solutions, monitoring and field research, and in physical infrastructure work.??

Protecting marine health protects the jobs that depend on it, particularly those in the coastal recreation, tourism and leisure sector.?

Through the Marine Conservation Society’s recent research into blue jobs, we uncovered that USD$1 billion of investment into coastal restoration could create up to six times more jobs than if the equivalent were invested in oil and gas. ?

Considering all socioeconomic benefits, coastal restoration jobs can provide a tenfold increase on investment, provide jobs fit for the future, and would bring the UK closer to achieving key climate and biodiversity commitments.?But to unlock these blue jobs, UK political parties must dramatically scale up public investment in ocean recovery, and work with private investment to establish robust regulatory frameworks.??

The Office for National Statistics values the UK’s stock of marine natural capital at ￡211 billion - but this is only a fraction of its total value to the UK economy. This estimate only accounts for only a small proportion of the abundant marine ecosystems within the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and does not consider all services provided by these ecosystems. ?

Marine ecosystems are fundamentally life supporting - they generate oxygen, absorb carbon, regulate the climate, and provide food. In this sense, they are of limitless value.??

Despite its value and importance to wildlife, people, and planet, marine protection is underfunded when compared to terrestrial nature projects. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals were created to deliver prosperity for people and planet, SDG 14 ‘Life Below Water’ remains the goal with the least associated funding commitments. ?

Domestically, there have been few policy-specific details from the Conservative and Labour Parties on how and where funding for marine protection is allocated, including the funding for ocean protections in DEFRA’s Green Finance Strategy, and in Labour’s upcoming Green Prosperity Plan.??

A sustainable blue economy is at the UK Government’s fingertips and could deliver myriad benefits to people and planet. There is appetite from the private sector to invest in ocean recovery projects. A recent survey of 700 senior executives and investors by Simmons & Simmons reported that 57% of executives are considering investing in ocean recovery and blue economy projects. The recently finalised Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures will also help organisations report on their impacts on nature, including in the marine environment.??

Collaborative working between the government, private sector and conservation organisations to help drive forward systems and robust marine investment regulations will reap dividends for the marine environment and coastal communities while helping the Government deliver on its nature commitments.??

As we edge ever closer to a 2024 General Election, the Marine Conservation Society will keep on working with cross-party MPs and Peers to make the case for boosted funding to protect our blue planet and advocating for the policies contained in the Marine Conservation Society’s Manifesto for our Seas.?