Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy

Abstract

Extended Data Fig. 2 | Fuzzy sets for resource availability criteria. These are visual representations of the fuzzy sets for each indicator, including set shapes and thresholds, corresponding names and indicator ranges. Extended Data Fig. 3 | Fuzzy sets for economic viability criteria. These are visual representations of the fuzzy sets for each indicator, including set shapes and thresholds, corresponding names and indicator ranges. Article Extended Data Fig. 4 | Fuzzy sets for social equity and environmental sustainability criteria. These are visual representations of the fuzzy sets for each indicator, including set shapes and thresholds, corresponding names, and indicator ranges.

Tourism-Based Alternative Livelihoods for Small Island Communities Transitioning towards a Blue Economy

“…These conclusions reflect calls in the wider literature for environmentally and socially just tourism [55], and for collaborative marine planning. This would ensure that governance transitions towards the blue economy develop sectors carefully; prioritize local benefits; and nurture infrastructure, capabilities, rights, and institutions in order to deliver social, environmental, and economic goals [7].…”

“…For conservation, it can reduce dependence on industries and practices that extract natural resources or degrade ecosystems, and generate incentives to protect biodiversity and landscapes that are attractive to tourists [2][3][4]. In marine environments, tourism is increasingly lucrative [5], and specifically the development of sustainable tourism is central to efforts aimed at improving the integrated governance of marine environments (through marine planning, for instance) and to wider discourses of blue growth and the blue economy [6,7].…”

Mapping Global Research on Ocean Literacy: Implications for Science, Policy, and the Blue Economy

“…Managing the blue economy requires managing people, which calls for efforts to better understand their knowledge, attitudes, behavior and needs (Ashley et al, 2019;Cavallo et al, 2020). Such efforts require strategies across multiple sectors, from high-level policy-makers to individual-level behavioral changes (Cisneros-Montemayor et al, 2021). Benchmarking and continued monitoring of OL levels are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and initiatives (Eparkhina et al, 2021), not only for students but for all actors of society (Kelly et al, 2021), like those directly linked to the ocean, such as maritime workers.…”

Global decline in capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The capacity of coral reefs to provide these services can change on millennial timescales with natural fluctuations in environmental conditions or on decadal timescales due to anthropogenic stressors such as overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change. 7,[17][18][19] Understanding the impacts of these stressors on the ocean's capacity to provide ecosystem services is important for transitioning to a sustainable blue economy, 20 establishing recovery targets, 8,21 achieving the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs), 22 and anticipating where and how future societies will be impacted under socio-economic and greenhouse-gas-emissions scenarios. 22,23 There are an estimated 6 million coral reef fishers worldwide, 24 and coral reef fisheries are valued at USD 6 billion.…”

“…In recent studies, this has included global analyses of Indigenous-led initiatives to support sovereignty and nature conservation in traditional territories 30,31 and a wider recognition of the foundational efforts of SIDSs to redefine sustainable development approaches under a blue economy. 20,32 The global community has identified the importance of ecosystem services provided by coral reefs through its commitment to achieve targets associated with SDG2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG14 (conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development).…”