The mainstreaming of equity at international and national levels offers scope for developing
countries to realise greater revenue from their resources and reinvest in their populace,
environmental management, reduce national debt levels and contribute to the eradication
of poverty and hunger.
At the core of the Blue Economy concept is the de-coupling of socioeconomic development
from environmental degradation. To achieve this, the Blue Economy approach is founded
upon the assessment and incorporation of the real value of the natural (blue) capital into all
aspects of economic activity (conceptualisation, planning, infrastructure development,
trade, travel, renewable resource exploitation, energy production/consumption). Efficiency
and optimisation of resource use are paramount whilst respecting environmental and
ecological parameters. This includes where sustainable the sourcing and usage of local raw
materials and utilising where feasible “blue” low energy options to realise efficiencies and
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benefits as opposed to the business as usual “brown” scenario of high energy, low
employment, and industrialised development models.
The Blue Economy approach recognises and places renewed emphasis on the critical need
for the international community to address effectively the sound management of resources
in and beneath international waters by the further development and refinement of
international law and ocean governance mechanisms. Every country must take its share of
the responsibility to protect the high seas, which cover 64 % of the surface of our oceans
and constitute more than 90% of their volume.