BLUE ECONOMY, potential and investments for a sustainable development

Despite its enormous potential (it provides the main source of food for almost half of the world’s population and is home to about 80% of the planet’s biodiversity), it is endangered by excessive and unregulated exploitation of resources with the consequences we know: pollution, biodiversity decline, endangered ecosystems, climate change

To cope with this situation it is becoming necessary to significantly change the economic approach to a more responsible and sustainable, with an eye to both the protection of the marine habitat and the economic aspect.

Thus was born the Blue Economy, a definition coined in 2010 by the Belgian economist Gunter Pauli in his book of the same name, a model of sustainable economy able to rationalize and decrease the impact on the health of our seas and our oceans through, for example, the creation of new products by recycling waste or by providing energy from raw materials and natural resources that can be exploited for the generation of wealth.

In fact, this is the circular economy applied to the marine context of which it is a branch.

There are many fields of application towards which this economic model is developed, among which we mention:

• Bioeconomy for fish productions;
• Biotechnology;
• Sustainable fishing:
• Port activities;
• Beach tourism;
• Marine sector;
• Renewable sources;

and there is considerable funding both from international organizations such as the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative of the United Nations or particularly from the European Union also in collaboration with the European Investment Bank (EIB), through the provision of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises aimed at developing the model.

With particular attention to the European Union, the commitments contained in the Commission communication of May 2021 (“On a new approach for a sustainable blue economy in the EU. Transforming the EU’s blue economy for a sustainable future”), have been endorsed by the European Green Deal.

The communication sets out a detailed action plan to which the European Union should adhere:

Achieve climate neutrality and zero pollution targets, for example through the decarbonization of maritime transport, the implementation of off-shore photovoltaic panels that combined with thermal, wind and tidal energy could ensure 25% of EU energy needs by 2050;

• Reduction of pollution through new methods of design of fishing gear, conversion of ships, decommissioning of offshore platforms and reduction of plastics littered in the oceans;
• Biodiversity conservation. This approach will increase the presence of fish fauna with an improved climate while also minimizing environmental impacts;
• Supporting the preservation of coastal landscapes from erosion and flood risk through the development of green infrastructure with beneficial effects in the coastal tourism sector;