Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

Seawalls – Our Front Lines of Defense

Various (Washington Post, Seattle Times)

Is there a person in the world that doesn’t like to sit on the beach, take a short break from the daily grind, and enjoy the beautiful ocean scenery?

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UK could lead the world in decarbonising the maritime sector

Charles Haine Shipping & Ports

The UK government recently launched a clean maritime plan to achieve zero-emission shipping and clean growth for the maritime sector—one of the first countries to do so. A key action is that, by 2025, all new vessels being ordered for use in UK waters are designed with zero-emission propulsion capability. 

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Bloom's Mission to Turn Toxic Algae into Shoes

Kelly Bastone, Outside Magazine Fisheries & Aquaculture

Like many Florida waters, Lake Bonnet had become overrun with plant slime. In fact, all 50 states and many countries worldwide are struggling with epidemic levels of algae that can prove toxic to people and ecosystems. “Red tides” of algae along Florida’s Gulf Coast have killed tons of fish and marine mammals.

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Can seaweed help curb global warming?

TED talk by Tim Flannery Fisheries & Aquaculture

It's time for planetary-scale interventions to combat climate change -- and environmentalist Tim Flannery thinks seaweed can help. 

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The Fish Is Boneless. (Fishless, Too.)

David Yaffe-Bellany Fisheries & Aquaculture

First, there was the meatless burger. Soon we may have fishless fish.

Read more → (4 minute read)


Major Banks to Weigh Environmental Impact in New Shipping Loans

Costas Paris Shipping & Ports

Citigroup, Société Générale and DNB are among the banks that will add ‘clean shipping’ criteria in ship financing

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New Report Identifies Countries Most Hit by Cruise Ship SOx Emissions

European Federation for Transport and Environment Shipping & Ports Tourism

The fact that cruise ships are causing pollution in the port cities they visit is not a new one, but a recent study shows that ships operated by a single line emitted ten times more sulphur oxides (SOx) than all of Europe’s 260 million cars in 2017.

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Blue bonds: What they are, and how they can help the oceans

Maram Ahmed, World Economic Forum

Innovative financial solutions will be required to enhance ocean and coastal resilience.

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Fish farming could be the center of a future food system

Ben Paynter Fisheries & Aquaculture

The world population is expected to grow by at least 2 billion people between now and 2050. That’s going to take a lot more food, and our appetites are already having planetary consequences: Raising cattle for food is huge source of emissions, and we’ve done enormous damage to ocean ecosystems with our fishing.

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We need to deep clean the oceans. Here's how to pay for it

Ingrid van Wees, World Economic Forum

With the future viability of so many economies and livelihoods at stake, saving our blighted oceans is a key development challenge.

Read more → (5 minute read)


IMO agrees on stricter efficiency targets for some ships

Reuters Shipping & Ports Tourism

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Friday agreed stricter energy efficiency targets for certain types of ships in an effort to speed up action to cut the sector’s emissions.

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Governments agree landmark decisions to protect people and planet from hazardous chemicals and waste, including plastic waste

Charles Avis, Public Information Officer (UN Environment) Plastics & Pollution

Decisions on plastic waste have been reached today in Geneva, as approximately 180 governments adopted a raft of decisions aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and waste.

Read more → (6 minute read)


The business of ocean data

Steven Adler, CEO Ocean Data Alliance

It’s well known that the majority of people now live in towns and cities. It’s more surprising to learn just how many of the world’s population live on or near the coast.  Forty percent of people are within 100km of a shoreline. Not coincidentally, most major problems in our oceans are found within 100km of the coast. 

Read more → (12 minute read)


Tech Titans’ Philanthropy Puts Oceans Front and Center

Mareesa Nicosia Energy Solutions

Tech Titans’ Philanthropy Puts Oceans Front and Center

While the ocean covers more than 70% of the earth's surface, the precious global resource receives just a fraction of all philanthropic funding—less than 1% since 2009, according to FundingtheOcean.org, an effort by the nonprofit Foundation Center to track ocean conservation philanthropy.

Titans of the technology and finance sectors, however, are increasingly committing resources to help solve the biggest problems facing our oceans, include warming temperatures, overfishing, and ocean acidification from increased carbon emissions.

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What Is Aquaculture and Why Do We Need It?

Global Aquaculture Alliance Fisheries & Aquaculture

By 2030, 62 percent of all seafood produced for human consumption will come from aquaculture. Today, it’s about 50 percent. So, what is aquaculture?

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Is blue the new green?

Daniel Hanna, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, Standard Chartered

How blue financing can support the fight against climate change

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Advancing the ecosystem services of aquaculture

Lisa Duchene, Global Aquaculture Alliance Fisheries & Aquaculture

Conservation organization The Nature Conservancy takes a considered step into aquaculture.

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The Bahamas’ Conchs Have Undergone Serial Depletion

Brigit Katz, Correspondent, Smithsonian Magazine Fisheries & Aquaculture

The prevalence of conchs in the Bahamas’ culture and economy has come at a sobering cost

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The Caribbean Needs Tourism, and Tourism Needs Healthy Coral Reefs

The Nature Conservancy Tourism

AI and social media are helping quantify the economic value of coral reefs.

 

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Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative

European Commission / European Investment Bank / World Resources Institute / WWF

Our economies and financial systems, lives and livelihoods are being put at risk by degrading ocean health. One-third of fish stocks are overfished, plastic and toxic chemicals are polluting the waters, and fertilizer run-off from agriculture has led to more than 400 ocean ‘dead zones’ totaling more than 245,000 km^2 . Valuable habitats are under threat, including coral reefs and mangroves, with over half already lost.

These changes have implications for economic stability, food security and livelihoods, and are undermining efforts to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Read more → (10 minute read)