A roadmap to a sustainable Indian Ocean blue economy

ABSTRACT

The Indian Ocean is a vital part of the economies, livelihoods and cultural identities of the States which border or lie within its boundaries. Fisheries, offshore oil and gas, tourism and maritime industries are already making a significant contribution to the economies of the Indian Ocean states. New opportunities are appearing in these established sectors and new emerging sectors which will require a cooperative approach to capture and exploit in a sustainable manner. The ocean does not recognise geopolitical boundaries and many of its ecosystems and much of its biodiversity are transboundary which can give rise to competitive exploitation. We propose that continued, coordinated and proactive growth of the blue economies within the Indian Ocean need to be built upon principles of:

• sharing of skills, data and knowledge;

• integrated regional scale planning between nations;

• adoption of marine-specific policies;

•  robust governance for industry and governments to work within and which the community understands and has confidence in its quality and operation and

•  collaboration between governments and industry, drawing upon the skills and capital of both of these sectors.

Together, these principles will enable Indian Ocean nations to build their critical mass in skills and grow their knowledge base that will underpin sustainable blue economic growth.

KEYWORDS:

• Blue economy
• triple-bottom line
• sustainability
• marine