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32 | SOLUTIONS FOR THE OCEAN / THE BLUE ECONOMY

MONACO BLUE INITIATIVE
Developing a sustainable

blue economy

The purpose of the second session was to build RESTRICTIVE
on best practice and success stories in terms of a
sustainable blue economy. Panellists from philan- There is a broad consensus concerning incompati-
thropy, civil society and the private sector explored bility between a sustainable blue economy and the
developments in interactions between economic development of deep seabed mining and offshore oil
activities and ocean conservation in order to define and gas activities. “The model that seems to be emer-
more effectively what constitutes a sustainable blue ging for deep seabed mining is one of fast-paced and
economy. According to the United Nations Environ- unbridled expansion in the ocean depths. This could
ment Programme’s financial initiative, a blue economy begin within the next year and a half and would be
should offer inclusive and equitable economic bene- extremely harmful”, warned biologist Diva Amon, Di-
fits, restore the ocean ecosystems and be founded rector of the NGO SpeSeas. However, a recent study
on clean technology, renewable energies and circular showed that 99% of the necessary data is missing,
economy principles. not to mention a regulatory and financial framework
which would ensure a fair sharing of revenue.

INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE
BIOECONOMY
Ocean conservation stakeholders and funders are in-
creasingly working with, instead of against, economic Tiago Pitta e Cunha, Managing Director of the Ocea-
players. In some cases, such as illegal and destruc- no Azul Foundation & Oceanario de Lisboa (Portu-
tive fishing, dissuasive tools are used to encourage gal) advocated for a blue bioeconomy that helps to
new players to become involved. In other cases, a decarbonise: “In Portugal, forest owners can receive
policy framework is necessary to prohibit harmful ac- money for the ecosystem services provided by their
tivities altogether. The Minister for Fisheries and the forest. But we haven’t yet found a way of doing the
Blue Economy of the Republic of Seychelles stressed same for the ocean, which is not privately owned”.
the importance of local solutions, mentioning the By giving a value to ocean ecosystem services and
fishermen’s community on Praslin Island (the archipe- carrying out an audit of the environmental and clima-
lago’s second largest island) which voluntarily stop- tic impact on businesses, science and technology
ped all fishing for 6 months during the reproduction can play a key role in determining how damage can
period, significantly increasing fishery resources. be prevented and positive alternatives for nature be
developed.