Dear Colleagues,

The contribution of marine and coastal resource in the global economy is increasingly being recognised, with the development of the blue economy. By 2030 the contribution of the ocean economy has been projected as 3 trillion USD, providing 40 million jobs (OECD 2016). Considering that coastal communities represent about 40% of the global population in 2017 (UN Ocean Conference 2107), we believe it is necessary to reassess the mechanisms that regulate, govern and protect the coastal landscape that facilitates our interaction with the broader marine environment and underpins a major portion of the ocean economy.

In the pursuit of a sustainable future, it is necessary to harness coastal environments for the valuable ecosystem services that they provide, identify mechanisms to enhance ecosystem service delivery, as well as develop sustainable nature-based solutions to stimulate local economies and community livelihoods. Ecosystem rehabilitation and monitoring should be prioritised to develop natural resources resilient to climate change effects through the development of adaptive capacity, with the use of blue accounting and associated tools.  Emphasis should be made for researching novel strategies fiscally incentivising the conservation and sustainable use of the coastal environments on which we depend on.

Prof. Pierre Failler

Mr.Michael Bennett

Guest Editors

References:

1.OECD. The Ocean Economy in 2030. Paris (France): OECD Publishing; 2016.

2.United Nations Ocean Conference 2017. Factsheet: People and Oceans. Accessed at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ocean-fact-sheet-package.pdf Accessed on: 17 May 2023.