The Blue Economy

The Blue Economy:
The Blue Economy is a concept designed in 1994 by Gunter Pauli. Itʹs a way of doing business in the world
of tomorrow ‐ combining profitability, sustainability and scientific knowledge.
The Blue Economy entered the UN lexicon during the 2011 ‐12 preparations for the Rio+20 Conference.

Blue Planet

Oceans cover 72% of the surface of our blue planet and constitute more than 95% of the biosphere. Life originated in the oceans and they continue to support all life today by generating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, recycling nutrients and regulating global climate and temperature. The oceans are in a very real sense the bloodstream of our planet.
Oceans provide a substantial portion of the global population with food and livelihoods for large numbers of people ‐over three billion –who depend upon them and are the means of transport for 80% of global trade.
Ocean resources are the major source of protein for more than 2.6 billion people globally and are a regulator of greenhouses gases by capturing and storing 30% of the carbon humans produce. The sea also offers vast potential for renewable “blue energy” production from wind, wave , tidal, thermal and biomass sources.

Goal of Blue Economy
The primary goal of the Blue Economy is to identify examples in nature where organic recycling or up-cycling occurs and mimic these processes to find out where and how the waste that we generate can be innovatively used again.

Blue Economy –Issues
• Sustainable use of biodiversity
• Food security
• Unsustainable Fisheries
• Climate change and managing carbon budgets
• Marine and coastal tourism.

Blue Economy –Opportunities
• Shipping and Port Facilities
• Fisheries
• Tourism
• Aquaculture
• Energy
• Biotechnology
• Submarine mining

References:
1. The Blue Economy ‐ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
2. The Blue Economy by Gunter Pauli.
3. Blue Economy Concept Paper of Third International Blue Economy Summit, 2014.