Abstract:As the foundation of human survival, the ocean is also an important component of sustainable development. Ensuring a sound marine environment and promoting the sustainability of the blue economy are also powerful ways to mitigate climate change.
Blue economy and sustainable development
The blue economy refers to industries and societies that depend on the ocean and waterways, and a good blue economy development promotes the sustainable use of the ocean. The World Bank defines this economic concept as "the sustainable use of marine resources to promote economic growth, improve livelihoods and employment, while maintaining the health of marine ecosystems".
The blue economy involves economic sectors such as offshore wind energy, tourism, marine biotechnology, fisheries, agriculture, and transportation. Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface and provide food, medicine, renewable energy and natural resources for billions of people around the world. Nearly half of the world's population is directly dependent on the ocean for their livelihoods, and the value of goods and services generated by the ocean is about 2$5 trillion.
The ocean plays an important role in balancing the global climate, regulating land temperatures. The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat produced by greenhouse gases, thus avoiding drastic changes in the climate. In addition,The environmental conditions provided by the ocean are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: providing a site for aquaculture, thereby providing a sustainable economic pathway for coastal developing countries;In the case of reduced water availability, seawater desalination technology can be used to ensure sufficient and stable clean water, so as to ensure that the normal needs of residents are not compromised;The ocean also filters pollutants in a range of concentrations, supporting the health of the world's water bodies.
However, in recent years, destructive activities such as pollution emissions, burning fossil fuels, microplastics, and overfishing have been expanding, which has led to direct damage to the marine environment and the blue economy.
The ocean acts as a carbon sink and captures up to 70% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the global carbon cycle. Blue carbon is captured through intertidal and shallow water environments, as well as marine organisms. It is stored in biomass and sediments from mangroves, salt marshes, seagrasses, and algae. As global carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, so does the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans, and global warming is acidifying water bodies and lowering oxygen levels, harming or killing marine plants, animals, and other organisms. An increase in the level of dissolved carbon dioxide will:Impacts on marine biodiversity, such as coral bleaching, which causes coral death. This large-scale destruction has attracted considerable attention, as coral reefs are considered to be the regions with the highest levels of biodiversity on the planet. Although coral reefs make up only about 1% of the total area of the seabed, they are home to about 25% of the total marine life. In 2015, the World Wide Council for Nature (WWF) assessed the value of the ocean at about $24 trillion;Every year, goods and services from the coastal and marine environment bring about 2$5 trillion in revenue. This means that protecting these ecosystems is not only good for the health of our planet, but also for the health of our global economy.
Earlier, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had started multiple rounds of nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea. In mid-December 2023, TEPCO said that the fourth round of discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea will begin in late February 2024, with a total discharge of 7,800 tons, and that the fourth round of discharge of nuclear-contaminated water will omit the step of confirming the concentration of radioactive tritium before discharge. This also means:The marine water environment will be threatenedThis influence will radiate to marine life and eventually to life on land and to humans themselves.
From a global perspective, there are several feasible paths to the sustainable development of the blue economy.
More than half of the world's fisheries exports come from developing countries, and while fish has the lowest carbon footprint per kilogram of animal protein, fisheries require large amounts of fossil fuels. Emissions from fisheries and aquaculture are estimated at 13% to 2% (United Nations** and the Conference on Development, 2023).
Climate change increases the risk of food instability and conflict between fishers' production. As a result, the industry must adapt to climate change while taking steps to reduce emissions. The sustainability of fisheries, increasing the use of renewable energy and improving energy efficiency require improved production methods, increased use of renewable energy and improved energy efficiency. Countries and ** can set emission reduction targets for the fisheries sector, which requires more detailed emissions data from the sectors.
Sea freight is vital to the world, with about 80% of the world's merchandise volume being carried out by sea. However, maritime transport is also a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions**. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has therefore set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. However, mitigation measures taken to achieve this target are likely to further exacerbate costs to SIDS, including reduced freight costs and shipping connectivity. Despite these challenges, a decarbonisation pathway for maritime transport through a multilateral framework can drive emissions reductions more than individual country efforts.
Sustainable coastal and marine tourism is another large sector of the marine economy. In 2018, the export value of coastal and marine tourism was about 1$1 trillion (UNCTAD, 2020). Tourism is a key sector of the international economy. In 2019, tourism accounted for 29% of the world's services exports and created around 300 million jobs worldwide. However, sustainable coastal and marine tourism is highly vulnerable to climate change and other crises. In the process of sustainable development of the sector, the state and the state need to adjust the sustainable development strategy in a timely manner according to climate change to adapt to the current environment.
At the same time, tourism is an important part of greenhouse gas emissions**, which is why at the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2021, UNWTO issued the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action for Tourism. In the declaration, signatories pledged to halve harmful emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible by 2050. To achieve these goals, and maintain intact ecosystems, many countries will need to adapt to climate change and transform.
Carbon reduction and decarbonization of the power sector is one of the main strategies to reduce global carbon emissions, and the blue economy can make a significant contribution. The deployment of offshore or underwater renewable energy, including tidal power, underwater turbines, windmills and the use of marine biofuels, can generate benefits for the economy as a whole, including tourism, wind, bioenergy, biomass and biofuels. It is important to note that the ocean energy distribution can be used to promote sustainable economic development in small island developing States.
The ocean is the key to human survival and development, and the development of the blue economy is an important part and basic guarantee of green economic development. In order to achieve the sustainable development of the blue economy, it is necessary to organically combine the protection of the marine environment with sustainable development and climate change.