Virtual platform
2 – 3 February 2021
The Blue Economy is viewed as a concept to aid sustainable development while ensuring resource efficiency and responsible utilisation of marine resources. The concept is gaining momentum due to the demand for exploration and exploitation of the coast and oceans due to growing populations, mounting pressures on existing resources, and increasing access to the coastal and marine environments.
The Blue Economy framework provides an opportunity to address many of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), as a pathway to address sustainability concerns with a target-oriented approach. For instance, in the current COVID-19 context, the need to refocus Blue Economy strategies to subsume stimulus packages and increase the pace of socio-economic development to address livelihoods and social welfare is equally necessary.
Keeping that in mind, this virtual workshop was jointly organised by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of India, and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Germany, to examine opportunities and challenges for an Asia-Pacific Blue Economy framework that impinges on regional cooperation, resource security, science and technological cooperation, and sustainable development.
The virtual forum
Cheryl Rita Kaur, Head of the Centre for Coastal and Marine Environment (CMER) represented MIMA as an Invited Speaker to provide her perspectives on ocean economics and the role of Blue Economy in the region in addressing challenges from COVID-19. Other reputable institutions and organisations taking part in the forum included the World Bank, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Potsdam, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Bangkok office, as well as the Bay of Bengal Programme in India.
Speakers and the expert panel members in discussion at the forum
The overall discussion centred on deliberating interlinkages and potential for cooperation in Blue Economy in the geopolitical, economic, and sustainable development landscape of the region. The forum also discussed the possible implementation of Blue Economy strategies to complement stimulus and recovery packages with an emphasis on regional cooperation, besides exploring policy options to enable recovery both within countries and in the Asia Pacific region.
The forum outlined Blue Economy strategies with an emphasis on regional cooperation
A draft policy brief on the subject will be shared in due course as an outcome of the forum, including the speakers’ presentations and discussion.
Speakers shared views during the panel discussion.