Advancing the Blue Economy Approach to Tackle Global Ocean Crises

Description

This thesis addresses the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution through the lens of the blue economy. The core identified problem is both the fragmented vision, and ineffective approaches to sustainable ocean governance and financing, which have not fully capitalised on the blue economy’s potential to contribute to environmental and economic goals. The aim of the thesis is to critically examine how advances in the blue economy approach that place greater emphasis on sustainability can address the ocean crises. The first research theme examines the potential for the blue economy approach to support the achievement of national and global goals related to sustainable development, ocean conservation, and climate change. How the blue economy approach can be specifically improved to embody “blue” better is examined through two further themes. One focusses on stronger positioning of plastics policy as integral to the responsibility of the blue economy and ensuring effective plastics policy to reduce the amount of plastic pollution entering the ocean. The other evaluates how blue financing approaches can be improved to better support the long-term delivery of a sustainable blue economy. Through case studies, policy analysis, and empirical data, this research highlights gaps in current blue economy practices, particularly in the design and implementation of plastics policies and blue bonds as a financing mechanism. It demonstrates that, while progress has been made, a more integrated and context-aware approach is needed to ensure that these policies deliver transformative change. These findings are synthesised into a framework that proposes four key pillars for advancing the blue economy approach: governance and policy coherence, innovative and contextualised financing mechanisms, cross-sectoral integration, and robust monitoring and evaluation. Applying these pillars to all areas of the current blue economy approach will deliver a more transformative, sustainable blue economy to address the ocean crises.

Period	14 Nov 2024
Examinee	Antanya March
Examination held at	University of Portsmouth
Degree of Recognition	International