The Blue Economy: Challenges, Opportunities and Trade-Offs for Preserving Marine Ecosystems

The world’s oceans provide significant ecosystem services relevant to human well-being, including the provision of goods that are either consumed or essential for human survival. The marine and coastal environment is under significant human-induced stress due to climate change (e.g. global warming and ocean acidification) and direct human interactions (e.g. waste pollution and overfishing), threatening marine assets and related economic activities. The Blue Economy (BE) concept encompasses all ocean-related industries (such as coastal tourism and fisheries) and activities to protect them (such as marine protected areas). The BE plays a major role in the global economy: if considered as a country, its combined activities would rank as the 7th largest in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and it is projected to grow faster than the general economy if the ocean’s key assets are conserved. To address the urgency of the climate and environmental challenges and the resulting social and economic issues, BE’s integrated strategy enables the sustainable and optimized use of ocean space and resources needed for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.