Foi este trabalho da GreenBuzz que nos levou uma vez mais a trazermos a «Blue Economy» para este nosso Blogue, começando pela impressiva imagem do Banco Mundial acima. E temos ainda o Relatório seguinte:
O Sumário Executivo começa assim:
«This report was drafted by a working group of United Nations entities, the World Bank, and
other stakeholders to suggest a common understanding of the blue economy; to highlight the
importance of such an approach, particularly for small island developing states and coastal
least developed countries; to identify some of the key challenges its adoption poses; and to
suggest some broad next steps that are called for in order to ensure its implementation.
Although the term “blue economy” has been used in different ways, it is understood here
as comprising the range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine
whether the use of oceanic resources is sustainable. An important challenge of the blue
economy is thus to understand and better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to pollution. A second significant
issue is the realization that the sustainable management of ocean resources requires collaboration across nation-states and across the public-private sectors, and on a scale that has not
been previously achieved. This realization underscores the challenge facing the Small Island
Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as they turn to better managing their blue economies.
The “blue economy” concept seeks to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the
preservation or improvement of livelihoods while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability of the oceans and coastal areas. At its core it refers to the decoupling of
socioeconomic development through oceans-related sectors and activities from environmental and ecosystems degradation. It draws from scientific findings that ocean resources are
limited and that the health of the oceans has drastically declined due to anthropogenic
activities. These changes are already being profoundly felt, affecting human well-being and
societies, and the impacts are likely to be amplified in the future, especially in view of projected population growth.
The blue economy has diverse components, including established traditional ocean industries such as fisheries, tourism, and maritime transport, but also new and emerging activities, such as offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, seabed extractive activities, and marine
biotechnology and bioprospecting. A number of services provided by ocean ecosystems, and
for which markets do not exist, also contribute significantly to economic and other human
activity such as carbon sequestration, coastal protection, waste disposal and the existence of
biodiversity. (...)».
Em suma, fontes suficientes para ficarmos com uma ideia das problemáticas em presença. Este também um bom pretexto para lembrarmos a iniciativa da Gulbenkian seguinte:
