Blue economy for sustainable development

Oceans cover 72 per cent of the surface of this planet. Oceans and seas support all life forms on the planet by generating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, recycling nutrients and controlling the global temperature.
Oceans and seas provide food and livelihoods to a substantial portion of the global population; nearly three billion people worldwide receive 20 per cent of their daily animal protein intake from fish while employment in fisheries and aquaculture provide about 55 million jobs worldwide. It is also a means of transportation to 80 per cent of global trade.
The marine and coastal environment also constitutes a key resource for the important global tourism industry. About 32 per cent of the global supplies of hydrocarbons which are a prime source of energy are obtained from the seabed.
In general, marine ecosystems and resources have a key role in supporting food security, sustainable livelihoods, economic opportunity and social inclusion for billions of people. In fact, it is believed that if the oceans and seas and marine resources are managed in a sustainable manner, it has the potential to eradicate poverty especially in coastal developing countries. However, human activities leading to exploitation and pollution of the oceans and marine resources may limit this opportunity.
In light of this, the concept of 'blue economy' was established at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable development conceptualizes, 'oceans and seas as "Development Spaces" where spatial planning integrates conservation, sustainable use of living resources, oil and mineral wealth extraction, bio-prospecting, sustainable energy production and marine transport.'
Realizing that as a coastal country, with access to a huge amount of sea space, Bangladesh can utilize the 'blue economy' concept for sustainable, clean, equitable blue growth in both traditional and emerging sectors, the present government has set goals to integrate this economy for sustainable development.
In this context, the Embassy of Bangladesh in Thailand on May 28, 2015 organized a high-level panel discussion on the sidelines of the Ministerial Segment of the 71st Session of the UN ESCAP at the UN Office in Bangkok titled as, 'Blue Economy for Sustainable Use of Marine Resources and Inclusive Growth' to share best practices and foster greater cooperation on blue economy.
Heads of governments and ministries from Indonesia, Philippines, India, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Bhutan and Russian Federation and Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP and Asia Regional Director from IUCN shared their experience. Foreign Secretary, Md. Shahidul Haque and State Minister for Ministries of Finance and Planning, M. A. Mannan gave the thematic presentation and closing remarks respectively. The foreign secretary in his presentation made it clear that integrating the blue economy is one of the priorities of the government as it can help eradicate poverty and bring in economic prosperity to the country.
A major outcome from the session was that all of the countries realized the importance of the blue economy for sustainable development and have shown keen interest in implementing necessary policies, legislations and infrastructure to integrate blue economy but the panelists agreed that much more knowledge, capacity and cooperation are needed by the international community to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
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