BLUE ECONOMY IN DETAIL

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Blue Economy:

  • The concept was introduced by Gunter Pauli in his 2010 book- “The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100million jobs”.
  • It is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.
  • It advocates the greening of ocean development strategies for higher productivity and conservation of ocean’s health.
  • It encompasses-
  • Renewable Energy: Sustainable marine energy can play a vital role in social and economic development. Fisheries: Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue, more fish and help restore fish stocks.
  • Maritime Transport: Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by sea.
  • Tourism: Ocean and coastal tourism can bring jobs and economic growth.
  • Climate Change: Oceans are an important carbon sink (blue carbon) and help mitigate climate change. Waste Management: Better waste management on land can help oceans recover.
  • Blue Economy emphasizes on integration of development of the ocean economy with social inclusion, environmental sustainability, combined with innovative business models.

History of the concept of Blue Economy:

1. The economic philosophy of the Blue Economy was first introduced in 1994 by Professor Gunter Pauli at the United Nations University (UNU) to reflect the needs of future growth and prosperity, along with the threats posed by global warming.

2. The concept was based on developing more sustainable models of development including concepts of engineering based on “no waste and no emissions”.

3. The Blue Economy assumed greater importance after the Third Earth Summit Conference – Rio+20 in 2012.

4. The conference focused inter al a on expanding the concept of Green Economy to include the Blue Economy.

5. The concept received a fillip when the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 sought to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” as a guiding principle for global governance and use of ocean resources.

lndia’s Maritime position & its significance with respect Blue Economy

  • With a coastline of nearly 7.5 thousand kilometers, India has a unique maritime position. Nine of its 29 states are coastal, and the nation’s geography includes 1,382islands.
  • There are nearly 199 ports, including 12 major ports that handle approximately 1400 million tons of cargo each year.
  • Moreover, India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2 million square kilometers has a bounty of living and non­living resources with significant recoverable resources such as crude oil and natural gas.
  • Also, the coastal economy sustains over 4 million fisherfolk and coastal communities. With these vast
  • maritime interests, the blue economy occupies a vital potential position in India’s economic growth.
  • It could well be the next multiplier of GDP and well-being, provided sustainability and socio-economic welfare are kept center-stage.
  • Therefore, India’s draft blue economy policies envisaged as a crucial framework towards unlocking the country’s potential for economic growth and welfare.

Environmental Benefits:

  • Mangroves and other vegetated ocean habitats sequester 25 percent of the extra C02 from fossil fuels .i.e.. Blue Carbon.
  • Protection of coastal communities from disasters like floods and storms.
  • A Sustainable Blue Economy can help to achieve commitments under UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Paris climate agreement 2015 and the UN Ocean Conference 2017

 Renewable Energy :

  • Sustainable marine energy can play a vital role in social and economic development.
  • As energy sources on the sur face are limited, in the near future the dependency on marine resources will increase. which will require more human resource to be deployed in the field of environment engineering and marine resource protection.

Mineral Wealth:

  • According to ISA there are vast reserves of Poly-metallic Nodules, sulphides, cobalt rich ferro-mangenese crust( rich in cobalt, bismuth, iron, lead, platinum).
  • ISA has notified two major areas “clariton-clipperton fracture zone” and Central Indian Ocean Basin.
  • India has already signed a contract and entered in the league with Japan,USA, China.

Fisheries:

  • Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue,more fish and help restore fish stocks.

Maritime Transport :

  • Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by sea.
  • Marine services sector could serve as the backbone of its blue economy and help India become 10 trillion dollar economy by 2022.
  • Indian Ocean is a major conduit of trade with as much as 80% of global oil trade happening through it.

Tourism:

  • Ocean and coastal tourism can bring jobs and economic growth.

Issues associated :

Threat of sea borne terror :

  • Piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, illicit trade in crude oil, arms, drug and human trafficking and smuggling of contraband etc .

Natural Disasters:

  • Every year tsunamis, cyclones, hurricanes typhoons etc leave thousands of people stranded and proper ty worth millions destroyed.

Man Made disasters:

  • Oil spills, climate change continue to risk the stability of the maritime domain.

Impact of climate change:

  • Threats  of  both  slow onset  events  like  sea·level rise and  more intense and  frequent  weather events  like cyclones.
  • Long term climate change impacts on ocean systems like changes in sea temperature, acidity, and major oceanic currents.

Marine pollution:

  • In form of excess nutrients from untreated sewerage,agricullural runoff, and marine debris such as plastics.
    • Deep sea mining can cause long term irreversible ecological damage to marine ecosystem.

Geopoliticalissues:

  • Geopolitical tussle between in various regions like South China Sea,Indian Ocean Region etc. and undermining International Laws like UNCLOS limit s the countries from achieving the full potential of Blue Economy.

Overexploitation of marine resources:

  • Illegal,unrepor ted,and unregulated extraction of marine resources.
    • FAO estimates that approximately 57 percent of fish stocks are fully exploited and another 30 percent are over· exploited, depleted, or recovering.

Unsustainable development near marine areas:

  • Physical  alterations  and  destruction of  marine and coastal  habitats  &  landscapes  largely  due  to  coastal development,  deforestation.&  mining

Initiatives Taken by the Indian Government:

Sagarmala Project: Vision of the Sagarmala Programme is to reduce logistics cost for export-import and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment.

Coastal Economic Zones: The government identifies 14 CEZs in the National Perspective Plan for Sagarmala Programme.

CEZs aims to promote exports by providing infrastructure and facilities to entrepreneurs to set up businesses and industries near Ports.

Indian Ocean Rim Association: India has been taking active participation in the IORA for promotion of blue economy in Indian Ocean littoral states.

Matsaya Sampada Yojana: It is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the country.

It will bring about the Blue Revolution by harnessing of fisheries potential in a sustainable, responsible, inclusive and equitable manner.

Polymetallic Nodules: India has received the sanction from International Seabed Authority for deep-sea mining in the Central Indian Ocean.

Deep Ocean mission: The mission will give a boost to efforts to explore India’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf.

The plan will enable India to develop capabilities to exploit resources in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB).

India’s draft blue economy policy is envisaged as a crucial framework towards unlocking country’s potential for economic growth and welfare.

The draft policy outlines the vision and strategy that can be adopted by the govt to utilize the plethora of oceanic resources available in the country.

Objectives:

The policy aims to-

  • Enhance the contribution of the blue economy to India’s GDP
  • Improve the lives of coastal communities
  • Preserve marine biodiversity and
  • Maintain the national security of marine areas and resources

What comprises India’s blue economy

  • India’s blue economy is understood as a subset of the national economy.
  • It comprises an entire ocean resources system and human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones within the country’s legal jurisdiction.
  • It aids the production of goods and services that have clear linkages with economic 7growth, environmental sustainability, and national security.
  • The blue economy is a vast socio-economic opportunity for coastal nations like India to utilize ocean resources for societal benefit responsibly.

Need for such policy

  • With a coastline of nearly 7.5 thousand kilometres, India has a unique maritime position.
  • Nine of its 29 states are coastal, and the nation’s geography includes 1,382 islands.
  • There are nearly 199 ports, including 12 major ports that handle approximately 1,400 million tons of cargo each year.
  • Moreover, India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2 million square kilometres has a bounty of living and non­ living resources with significant recoverable resources such as crude oil and natural gas.
  • Also, the coastal economy sustains over 4 million fisherfolk and coastal communities.

Key areas

The policy recognizes the following seven thematic areas.

  • National accounting framework for the blue economy and ocean governance.
  • Coastal marine spatial planning and tourism.
  • Marine fisheries, aquaculture and fish processing.
  • Manufacturing, emerging industries, trade, technology, services, and skill development.
  • Logistics, infrastructure and shipping, including trans-shipments.
  • Coastal and deep-sea mining and offshore energy.
  • Security, strategic dimensions, and international engagement.

Way Forward:

  • India should focus on marine transport, communication services and the creation of a knowledge hub for marine research and development, alongside the more traditional sectors like fisheries and coastal tourism.
  • India should try to balance economic benefits with sustainability for meeting the broader goals of growth, employment generation, equity and protection of the environment while developing an effective response mechanism to address humanitarian crises and natural disasters.