The UN seeks a “Blue Pact” to protect the oceans

Climate change, pollution and overfishing threaten the livelihoods of some 3 billion people who depend on the oceans for food and income.

Faced with this threat, a new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development calls for an agreement called the global “Blue Pact” on trade, investment and innovation that serves to sustainably use these vast maritime expanses They are home to 80% of all life forms.

The study analyzes the economic impact of the oceans at a global level, whose value is estimated between 3 and 6 trillion dollars, and assesses the significant impact of human activity and global crises in different sectors, such as fishing, maritime transport and coastal tourism.

The deputy secretary general of the Conference, Pedro Manuel Moreno, highlighted the need to find a balance between the benefits that the oceans provide us with and the protection of their resources.

Investing in new sustainable sectors can be good business

Achieving this “Blue Deal” would serve to boost investment in emerging sustainable sectors that could benefit developing countries. The report highlights two promising sectors: the cultivation of seaweed and plastic substitute products.

In the past two decades, the global algae market has more than tripled, from $4.5 billion in 2000 to $16.5 billion in 2020.

Seaweeds do not need fresh water or fertilizer to grow. They can be grown in many developing countries for food, cosmetics and biofuels, and are an alternative to plastic, of which 11 million tons are dumped into the ocean each year.

plastic substitutes

In addition to seaweed, nature provides us with many sustainable materials that could be used to make eco-friendly versions of products such as food wrappers, straws, or other everyday plastic products.

The list of materials that could be usedand which are abundant in many developing countries, are bamboo, coconut shells, banana plants and agricultural residues. In addition, these communities have a great wealth of traditional and cultural knowledge in the use of these materials.

Global trade in plastic substitute products amounted to some $388 billion in 2020, a figure that barely represents a third of the trade in plastics made from fossil fuels. So the growth potential is huge.

The report calls on governments and companies to increase funding for research and development of emerging sustainable sectors in the ocean economy.

In addition, urges companies to invest in developing countries to strengthen their technologytheir skills and their productive capacities, so that both can take advantage of the new opportunities offered by the oceans.

Diversifying exports protects the economy

Another advantage of investing in emerging ocean sectors is that it could help developing countries to diversify their exports.

The global value of exports of ocean goods such as seafood and port equipment, and of services such as shipping and coastal tourism reached an estimated value of $3 trillion in 2020.

The crisis situation generated by COVID-19 revealed the potential and recovery capacity of some sectors and the extreme vulnerability of others. While in 2020 exports of maritime goods only fell by 3.2%, those of services fell by 59%.

This drop in income affected many coastal communities in developing countries, which are often dependent on sectors such as tourism. The diversification of its exports and ocean activities is key to increasing economic resilience to future crises.

According to the report, governments should include the goal of promoting a diversified and sustainable ocean economy in crisis recovery strategies and in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Objective: Protect fish stocks and marine biodiversity

With 34% of global fish stocks below biologically sustainable levels, the report urges countries to urgently ratify the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies of the World Trade Organization (WTO), adopted on June 17, 2022.

Going a long way to address harmful subsidies, the agreement bans support for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, bans support for fishing overfished stocks, and ends subsidies for non-high seas fishing. regulated. It will enter into force when two thirds of the 164 members of the WTO deposit their “instruments of acceptance”.

Similarly, the report calls on governments to adopt and ratify the agreement on Marine Biodiversity outside of National Jurisdictions, of March 4, 2023.

Better known as the “High Seas Biodiversity Treaty,” the agreement will create tools for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of marine genetic resources and establish internationally protected areas in our ocean.

a new direction

Sustainable Development Goal number 14, dedicated to life underwater, is the one that received the least funding among all the goals. From 2013 to 2018, only 1.6% of Official Development Assistance, some 2.9 billion dollars a year, went to the maritime economy.

This figure is well below the needs to address the ocean crisis. According to recent estimates, the minimum necessary to achieve the aforementioned Objective in 2030 will be 175,000 million dollars per year, especially taking into account the impact of COVID-19 and other recent setbacks.

It is also estimated that the current $2.8 trillion investment in four sustainable ocean solutions – mangrove conservation and restoration, decarbonisation of international shipping, sustainable ocean-based food production and offshore wind production – would report net benefits of $15.5 trillion in 2050.

Without a global “Blue Deal,” it will be much more difficult to achieve those benefits and the targets of Goal 14. “Now is the time to set a new course by investing more in building a sustainable ocean economy,” Moreno said.