Blue Economy: Harnessing untapped resources

According to the World Bank, world population will reach 8.0 billion in 2024 and there is no sign that we are going to consume less food or energy in the future. In fact, with another billion of us on the planet in the next 10 to 15 years the pressure on the resources is only likely to increase.

For more food and energy alternative, innovative and sustainable solutions are urgently needed. This is why we are talking about blue economy. A new strategy needs to be adopted to help use ocean resources sustainably and drive growth and jobs.

Half of the planet's sunlight falls on seas and oceans and half the organic matter is created there. The wind, the tides and waves offer energy that does not contribute to global warming. Every year new wind farms are built offshore. Fish and shellfish are the fastest growing source of animal protein worldwide. And soon the huge diversity of marine genetic material sea life will be able to deliver food and medicines for us.

The Blue Economy is already there in the developed countries. Marine resources are being used, and new jobs are being created. Starting with the development of ocean energy, new medicines or enzymes have been developed by decoding the DNA of marine life.

Fostering innovation means knowing and managing our resources and creating a safe, clean and secure environment for our businesses to invest.

Indeed, first and foremost, we need to know our seas and oceans.  Because investing in our seas - and exploring these sustainably - are very difficult when we know less about them than we do about the surface of the moon. Let's not repeat the same mistakes made when exploiting resources on land.

We need to draw long-term action plan so that we can exploit our waters in a sustainable way. So let me be clear: only when we have the knowledge and skills to better manage our oceans can we drive innovation in the maritime economy.

Which brings me to my second point: we need to manage the resources in a sustainable way.

Third, we have to make sure that we have the right framework to ensure that our seas and oceans are safe and secure.   Finally, we can only make a difference if we work in a global context. Climate change, ocean's acidification and the depletion of fish stocks are not limited to country-specific waters.  A global coordinated effort is required to tackle these challenges.

These are the first steps and we will make all efforts to engage our international partners. What we want to achieve is a real global governance of oceans where global challenges are met with coordinated efforts.

Our oceans are too often treated as a 'secondary space', and not a true space around which development can be centred.

The fact that so little of our planet's oceans are protected or developed is somewhat absurd given that they make up 70 per cent of the world's surface area.  Large swathes of our oceans are also regrettably plundered and polluted without regulation.

While we in Bangladesh do not have much land, our pursuit of sustainable development means we have to weigh up all the resources available to us at sea and at coastal belts, and take informed choices on how to develop them for the benefit of our country and our people.

Through a Blue Economy approach, we can harness untapped resources that will strengthen our sustainable development process.  We need also establish best practices that will reduce risks to our natural environment, including coastal ecosystem.

Ocean Economy and the coastal ecosystems can play an important role in the economic uplift of the country in the context of poverty alleviation, ensuring food and nutrition security and combating climate change impacts. Ocean management or so-called Blue Economy is a window of opportunity for development and the Bay of Bengal can be turned into a hub of economic development and prosperity. Marine resources and services can significantly contribute to the development of potential sectors like pharmaceuticals and agro-based industry and can also enhance foreign trade and foreign exchange earnings. However, the lack of skilled human resource, institutions and technology are the key challenges for Bangladesh to effectively utilise and exploit marine resources and coastal ecosystems.

Bangladesh has already accorded priority to foster fishery, maritime transportation, ship-recycling, ship building, and coastal tourism considering their huge potential. Bangladesh has shown its commitment to conservation and balanced development of natural resources keeping integrity of environmental and bio-diversity aspects while pursuing development for the people of the country.

Blue economy offers numerous economic and non-economic services e.g. coastal tourism, eco-tourism, recreational facilities; and yield economic benefits and render crucial non-economic services.

Ideas, principles, norms of Blue Economy lend significant contribution towards eradication of poverty, contributing to food and nutrition security, mitigation and adaptation of climate change and generation of sustainable and inclusive livelihoods. Thus Blue Economy requires a balanced approach between conservation, development and utilisation of marine and coastal eco-systems, all oceanic resources and services with a view to enhancing their value and generate decent employment, secure productive marine economy and healthy marine eco-systems. We should have a planned path of development exploiting oceanic resources and coastal ecosystem management in a phased manner through our medium-term and perspective plans.

Ocean economy should have adequate focus on the well-being and livelihood of the people. Engagements between countries and stakeholders of Blue Economy should be based on the principles of  mutual trust and respect, equitable mutual benefit, and sharing of benefits to secure sustained and beneficial outcomes of all ocean-centric enterprises.

It is to be noted that while exploration of marine resources and minerals, particularly in the High Seas and ocean-beds, hold considerable promise, such exploration ought to be planned, approached and carried out taking into consideration the likely impacts on marine ecology and potential risks.

The varied levels and state of marine technology are evolving in many of the key areas. It is thus important to develop appropriate technology for horizontal and vertical requirements and need to be supported to explore full potential of Blue Economy, including through involvement of communities, addressing issues under education, skills, and infrastructure development.

There is also need to undertake and deepen long-term monitoring and surveillance of oceans and seas and coastal hinterland changes.

The global community needs to enter into equitable mutually beneficial collaboration among the developed and developing countries to generate scientific knowledge and evidence, develop manifold capacities in the countries-in-need, transfer of various marine technologies; and create further collaborative arrangements at different levels (sub-national, national, regional), as may be considered necessary.

Research-observation-assessment-data constitute the key basis of tapping oceans and seas, marine systems and resources. Assessment and valuation of blue capital will require diverse and strong scientific and technical capacities. Therefore, long-term research will have to be supported, particularly through public resources, to improve understanding of ecosystem structure, functioning, possible impacts of climate change on resources and biodiversity, etc.

In this context, the authorities concerned may consider the followings:

n As Bangladesh did not have any academic programme in any university on physical oceanography we lack expertise in this field which put a serious challenge in achieving sustainable ocean and marine resources management goal.  What we have in Bangladesh are a few courses with 4 to 6 credits in 100+ total credits of a B.Sc. (Hons.) course.

n No degree programme in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), geoinformatics and geomatic engineering were offered in undergraduate level in our country. Here in Bangladesh, we have only a few courses with 4 to 6 credits in 100+ total credits of a BSc (Hons.) course of other disciplines like Geography, Forestry, Environmental sciences, Urban and Rural Planning etc.

n However, following the maritime boundary verdicts, Bangladesh Government has given serious attention to oceanography and introduced B.Sc (Hons.) course in Chittagong University and Dhaka University. These require enough number of faculty members with adequate and proven research capability. So that they can teach and guide students.

n Envisaging the huge demand and ready market in the country and abroad for professionals in the field of geospatial science and the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Ministries may take immediate steps to introduce these courses in some Universities on a priority basis. The Government can render support to those respective universities with incentives and providing fund supports.   

Professor Dr. Shamsul Alam is Member, General Economics Division, Bangladesh Planning Commission. The article is adapted from his speech as Chief Guest at the Nansen-Bangladesh International Centre for Ocean, Coastal and Climate Studies (NABIC) Workshop held during October 12-17, 2014 at Cox's Bazar. shamsul alam