SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: BLUE ECONOMY
CHANCE FOR A DEEP
BLUE STEP CHANGE
Through human history, the natural resources that
feed and energise the world have primarily been
terrestrial. Now, more is being asked of our ocean.
P
rofessor Steve Fletcher likens
communicating science to
taking people on a voyage,
from the warm shallows to the
dark, cold deep. Fittingly, he is talking about
the ocean and his passion for safeguarding
marine life.
Professor Fletcher is Director of the
University of Portsmouth’s Sustainability and
the Environment research theme and Ocean
Lead of the UN’s International Resource Panel.
His key field of research is ocean policy
and economy, specifically issues affecting
the sustainability of the blue economy
– the world’s ocean and coastlines. This
is becoming an increasingly important
field of science as humanity turns to the
ocean as the new frontier for economic
security, particularly new renewable energy
platforms and deep-sea mineral mining.
Professor Fletcher says, even now,
everything from the food we eat and the
clothes we wear, to the way we travel around
the world, is reliant on ocean resources.
It’s his way of fitting marine conservation
into an economic frame. However,
general awareness of this context remains
obscured by conventional conservation
still being perceived as a cost to society
or a restriction on economic activity.
“Often, in conservation areas there are
restrictions on fishing or the removal of
non-living resources, such as oil and gas, so
conservation is generally seen as a cost.”
Professor Fletcher asserts that, unless
you protect the ocean’s natural capital, you
can’t credibly expect it to remain strong
economically and play the elevated role that
humanity will require – keeping in mind
the oceans cover 71 per cent of the Earth’s
surface, hold 97 per cent of the Earth’s
water and comprise 99 per cent of the
planet’s living space.
To lay the groundwork for a new approach
to marine management, Professor Fletcher is
working with the United Nations and national
governments to test new approaches to
policymaking for a sustainable blue economy.
He hopes this will support new policies that
both protect the environment and stimulate
economic activity.
One of the first management traits that
he says needs to change is the current
sector-by-sector governance: “It’s incoherent
and non-coordinated. All activities are
managed independently from each other, so
it’s quite easy for, let’s say, energy generation
to impinge on a protected area or to ruin the
view of a lovely coastal tourism site.
“A more integrated approach, in which
different sectors are managed together,
would reduce these conflicts,” Professor
Fletcher says.
6%
(20% by 2050) of
global oil production
is dedicated to plastics,
with packaging
accounting for
approximately a
quarter of that.
SOURCE: ELLEN MACARTHUR
FOUNDATION
9%
of all plastic ever
produced has been
recycled.
12%
has been
incinerated, while
79%
ends up in the natural
environment.
SOURCE: UN ENVIRONMENT
PHOTO: STEPHEN CROWLEY / UNSPLASH
8
ISSUE 1 / 2020