The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

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TheEconomistGroup’sWorldOceanInitiativefostersa year-round
global conversation on the greatest challenges facing the seas
and progress towards building an environmentally and socially
sustainable “blue” economy. On March 9th-10th 2020 we will be
holding our annual World Ocean Summit in Tokyo.

Japan was chosen to be the venue of the 2020 World Ocean
Summit because of its engagement in the blue-economy
conversation. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is a member of the
High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, a group of 14
world leaders working on ocean-related sustainable development.
The 2019 G20 meeting in Japan saw member countries agree to
tackle marine plastic pollution.

Fishing is a crucial part of the blue economy. Today some 3.2bn
people rely on seafood for a fifth of their animal protein. However,
fish populations have declined alarmingly over the past 20 years due
to overfishing, competition and climate change. This has led to a
major decrease in fisheries production in many countries, including
Japan (see figure). In view of the latter, the country recently enacted
the most significant reform of its fisheries laws in 70 years to support
sustainabilityoffishstocks.

EricSchwaab,seniorvice-presidentforoceansattheEnvironmental
Defence Fund, who advised the Japanese government on fisheries
reform and will be speaking at the summit, says that Japan has
committed to science-based quotas to rebuild and sustainably
manage its fisheries. He thinks that these reforms will strengthen
Japanese fisheries’ resilience to the impacts of climate change.
“Furthermore, [ Japan’s] reforms can energise other countries to take
action to make their fisheries more productive, economically viable,
and ecologically resilient.”

Next year will be significant for the blue economy given
deadlines to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14:
to conserve and sustainably use the ocean and marine resources.
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in
China to consider, among other things, whether to treble the
coverage of marine protected areas to 30% of the ocean by 2030.

Informingthesevarious agendas, the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC) recently published alarming new evidence in

its special report on climate change and the ocean (see page 4).

UN special envoy for the ocean and summit speaker, Peter Thomson,

says: “The IPCC report on the ocean and the cryosphere confirmed

the dire warnings that science has been presenting to us for some

time now. The future of life in the ocean is under threat, with the

prime culprit being our greenhouse gas emissions. We have a global

plan to protect life on Earth; namely the Paris Agreement and the

UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Implement this plan faithfully

and we will give our grandchildren the good life we want for them.

Ignore it, and they will suffer the consequences of our selfishness.”

The new ocean agenda

These developments are setting the new ocean agenda for 2020

and beyond, and this is reflected in the programme for the summit.

The future of established sectors such as shipping will be assessed,

as will the prospects for emerging industries such as aquaculture.

Examples of innovations include the switch to zero-carbon shipping

fuels, plastic pollution clean-up technologies and new ways of

financing ecosystem restoration.

Summit speaker Tim Smith, head of Asia-Pacifc, APM Terminals,

says: “As an integrated global container logistics company, A.P.

Moller-Maersk is committed to tackling the issue of climate change.

Taking the lead in eliminating fossil fuels in container shipping and

supply chains, we have set the goal of zero carbon emissions in our

operations by 2050. Being a founding member of the Getting to

Zero Coalition announced in September 2019 at the UN Climate

Action Summit, we aim to collaborate closely with innovative

technology developers, researchers, investors, cargo owners,

shipping companies and logistics providers to co-develop

sustainable solutions.”

Women in the blue economy

Women play a significant role in the blue economy, yet their

work rarely receives the support and recognition it deserves. The

summit will hear from the winners of the Women and the ocean:

Changemakers challenge which showcases women developing

blue-economy solutions.

Maria Damanaki, global ambassador for oceans, The Nature

Conservancy, says: “Women are at the forefront of—and

disproportionately affected by—major ocean emergencies like

climate change, ecological crisis in coastal areas, plummeting fish

populations and illegal fishing. Globally, there has been enormous

momentum on gender parity. If we translate that into action for

a healthy ocean, we have a chance of tackling the crisis facing the

largest life-sustaining ecosystem on the planet. The opportunity

to showcase women changemakers working to develop tangible

business solutions to ocean-related sustainability challenges is one

of the reasons why I’m proud of The Nature Conservancy sponsoring

the Changemakers challenge.”

Register for the World Ocean Summit at

http://www.woi.economist.com/world-ocean-summit

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1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Japanese fisheries production (million tonnes)

Japanese share of global production (%)

Japanesefisheriesproduction

(milliontonnes)- Aquaculture

Japaneseshareof global

fish production(%)

Source: Planet Tracker

Japanese fisheries production

(million tonnes) - Wild-catch

Japan’s fisheries and global market share 1985–17

Why the World Ocean Summit is going to Japan in 2020

Japan is grappling with the blue-economy agenda as it tries to increase economic growth
and social wellbeing while protecting the ocean environment

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