For the most part, when we’ve thought of the ocean, we’ve considered it a limitless resource; an untapped final frontier. Because the ocean belongs to everyone — and to no one — too many have taken too much for too long. Decades of overuse and neglect are pushing this fragile, already weakened and large part of our living planet to the brink.
There is increasing evidence that losses in the ocean’s natural capital resulting from unsustainable use are rapidly eroding the resource base on which ecological security, economic activity and social wellbeing depend¹. Most ocean fisheries are either overexploited or approaching overexploitation. The proportion of fisheries that are classified as overexploited has been increasing since the 1970s to now comprise about a third of global catches, adding to large-scale unemployment, poverty, food insecurity and protein deficiency. Over the last 30 years the world has lost about half of its coral reefs. Mangrove deforestation is responsible for about 10% of global CO² emissions². And we don’t yet know the full implications for hundreds of millions of affected people from these unfolding catastrophes, let alone the global ecological and economic harm they will wreak.
A “frontier mentality” is not what we need. When it comes to the ocean, we cannot continue to talk about economic growth opportunities as endless or costless, because they are not. Oceans are not just a final frontier waiting to be converted to profits, they are the ecological foundation of vital biospheric systems, a survival lifeline for hundreds of millions of people, and they are public wealth. They will need appropriate and differently nuanced systems of management, not just “cut-and-paste” copies from the world of free markets.
Recently, the world has started to take notice. The media has come alive on ocean plastic and people around the globe are responding to images of ghostly white, dying coral reefs, vast islands of floating garbage, devastating animal deaths from plastics, and stories of struggling fisher people and poor coastal communities. The tide is turning, and perhaps optimistically, it seems people are beginning to change how they see the ocean; from a place where we take what we want and dump what we don’t, to a shared resource of immense importance and value. But change cannot come quickly enough if we are to restore ocean health for people, the planet and the economy.
Investors and policy-makers are increasingly turning to the ocean for new opportunities and resources. According to OECD projections, by 2030, ‘blue economy’ sectors could outperform the growth of the global economy as a whole, both in terms of value added and employment. Not least, in the coming decade, sectors such as marine energy, aquaculture, tourism and transport could offer significant investment opportunities.
To avoid the perils of “business-as-usual” it is critical that we find smarter ways to match capital with a sustainable approach to our ocean’s limited resources. Investment, — both public and private — if wisely applied, can become a core plank in restoring ocean health. For example, the World Bank has estimated that tactically reducing fishing effort, and fishing more carefully, could land an additional $83 billion, annually, for the fishing sector.
So how can we use good economics to help guide ocean-based human activity in the decades ahead? A set of new finance principles was unveiled this week at The Economist World Ocean Summit in Mexico. These 14 Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles (‘principles’) offer a framework to ensure that ocean-related investment delivers long-term value without having negative impacts on marine ecosystems. The Principles include risk-awareness (#3) and transparency (#5), setting the tone for public accountability. They seek to establish (#8) purpose, which is a key differentiator in capital markets between green bonds and other credits. They embed the precautionary principle (#10), seek to promote inclusion (#5), and look for public-private partnerships (#13), thus enabling a focus on environmental and social sustainability, the underlying tenets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Such criteria could potentially help ocean investments enhance the wellbeing of poor, ocean-dependent communities and reduce carbon emissions whilst supporting all sizes of business, including small traders and entrepreneurs. These are no mean feats.
Having secured the backing of industry heavyweights, if widely adopted, these principles might help transform the way in which humanity is managing the ocean’s fast-dwindling resources. They would also give the finance and investment community a major role in helping us navigate the future of the ocean: an invaluable and shared asset. These principles also act as a timely reminder that we cannot tackle ocean challenges in silos: collaboration is essential to deliver the kind of inclusive financial solutions envisioned. So the Principles are as relevant to bankers on Wall Street as they are to holidaymakers in the Maldives, and local fisher people off the coast of Madagascar. After all, the ocean belongs to everyone.
The potential of the blue economy — and indeed humanity’s wellbeing into the future — can only be realised if our ocean’s health is secured. I have seen in my own career how commerce can do great harm to the living planet, but I have also seen how it can be a force for the common good. This is an historic moment, one which presents society a critical choice: to continue with business-as-usual and witness the inexorable decline or collapse of ocean ecosystems or to apply resources, expertise and political will wisely to make a difference now by embarking on a journey towards a sustainable ‘blue economy’ for the ocean. This would deliver socially equitable, environmentally sustainable solutions: truly an ‘economy of permanence’. We welcome the active engagement and formal support of ocean leaders as signatories to the new ‘Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.’
Too big to fail, the ocean can’t afford further delay.
- World Bank (2015). The Sunken Billions Revisited Progress and Challenges in Global Marine Fisheries. Available [on line] at http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Topics/Environment/Sunken%20Billions%20Revisited-web-2.pdf
- Herr, D. T. Agardy, D. Benzaken, F. Hicks, J. Howard, E. Landis, A. Soles and T. Vegh (2015). Coastal “blue” carbon. A revised guide to supporting coastal wetland programs and projects using climate finance and other financial mechanisms. Gland,Switzerland: IUCN, p.10.
