On June 5, Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) brought together over a hundred delegates to discuss how to secure an ambitious global deal to protect nature in the high seas. Held in the historic Navy Board Rooms in Somerset House, the event fell between the second and third BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) negotiations at the […]
Study on the economic benefits of MPAs The European Commission contracted ICF, IEEP, PML and partners to undertake a review of the economic benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs) and other spatial protection measures (SPMs) (henceforth collectively referred to as MPAs unless specifically referring to SPMs). The study sought to compile an extensive evidence base […]
The World Ocean Council, the unique global Blue Economy Business Organization, brings together the ocean business and investment community to work on Corporate Ocean Responsibility. The annual WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) convenes these ocean industry stakeholders around the key challenges of ocean sustainable development and sets the stage for the coming year’s efforts on […]
Defra ‘The British Overseas Territories (‘OTs’) are globally significant in their ecological richness, containing over 90% of the UK’s marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Constitutional responsibility for decision making in many policy areas relevant to biodiversity and conservation lie with the OTs, which are highly dependent on the assets provided by their natural environment, terrestrial and marine […]
Richard Ashley: Over the past six years, academics from leading UK Universities working on the Blue-Green Cities and Urban Flood Resilience research projects have produced world class research outputs demonstrating the multiple benefits of Blue-Green infrastructure, resilience of urban water systems under climate and population change, opportunities to use stormwater as a resource, citizens’ interactions and interoperability of Blue-Green […]
New report improves understanding of UK Shelf Seas ‘blue carbon’ role Cefas: ‘The main outcomes from a five-year research programme on what is happening in the seas around Britain are published today. The report covers top-down processes (how marine ecosystems are affected by the atmosphere) and bottom-up (the hidden benefits provided by the seafloor), as well as […]
Since 2013 various proposals have been mooted to create the first ‘Marine Park’ in the Plymouth area with Martin Attrill leading this thinking. In June a conference was organised by the Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) – the UK-based marine conservation charity to develop this idea. A useful report of a meeting held in June has […]
The “Blue” in “Blue Economy” stands for the seas and oceans. As a vital component of Europe’s coastal economies, oceans can also contribute to our continent’s overall prosperity. They can produce investment, jobs and economic growth – and the heathier they are, the more productive they’ll be. Therefore, the Blue Economy must be a Sustainable […]