Your guide to the Blue Economy in APAC

Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands have vast coastlines spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometres that support economic growth, improve livelihoods, and offer essential social benefits.

However, these vital coastal regions now face growing pollution, the impacts of climate change, and the overexploitation of marine resources.

Coastal communities in Southeast Asia are among the most densely populated and vulnerable areas, enduring rising temperatures, extreme heatwaves, erratic rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, and more frequent and intense cyclonic storms.

In response to these challenges, exploring innovative new ways to address vulnerabilities and foster economic growth and development becomes crucial. But this must be done responsibly and sustainably. That’s where the Blue Economy comes in.

What is the Blue Economy?

The Blue Economy is an emerging concept that promotes the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources to drive economic growth and improve local livelihoods, while protecting the ocean and coastal communities.

By upholding responsible practices, we can harness the potential of our oceans and safeguard long-term ecological health and resilience. Blue Economy projects cross multiple sectors, including shipping, ecotourism, aquaculture, renewable energy, biotechnology, and deep-sea mining which is crucial to establishing climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Embracing the concept of a Blue Economy presents a hopeful trajectory for building a future that is both sustainable and resilient.

The approach also aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, appropriate investments in marine conservation and restoration efforts contribute to SDG 14 (Life Below Water), which strives to protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity and enhance their resilience.

Many different projects and initiatives can fall under Blue Economy, from renewable energy and sustainable fisheries to green marine transport and ecotourism. But contextual understanding and seeing the wider picture is vital to their success.

These projects, like the ocean itself, make up a complex ecosystem. In the Blue Economy space, everything competes for the same resource, so many variables must be considered when decisions are made, and projects are identified, designed, and delivered.

For instance, offshore windfarms can be a great way of producing clean energy. However, one must consider things like disruption to shipping lanes and any damage to the ocean environment and wildlife a windfarm might cause.

Ultimately, a detailed and considered approach is vital to create a fair balance between the different economies in coastal areas and give careful thought to who will be impacted by what changes.

In Asia Pacific (APAC), where the most vulnerable sector of society lives in coastal areas, it’s of the utmost importance that initiatives cater to the needs of economies and communities equally.

The rise of the Blue Economy

Although the Blue Economy is a relatively new term, the world is increasingly starting to pay more attention to the importance of the ocean and coastal environments, how they are impacted by commerce and climate, and how we can protect and maintain them.

To that end, projects and investment in the Blue Economy are on the rise.

In Vietnam, for instance, local initiatives have already begun. Like the Binh Thuan Fisheries Association, which has established a community management programme to encourage sustainable fishing practices and increase the income of locals from $15 to $25 a day.

Similarly, the Samoa Ocean Strategy is a national policy framework that includes a commitment to protect 30% of the country’s ocean by 2025, while also supporting marine spatial planning and sustainable fisheries.

As support for the Blue Economy grows, funding will continue to gather pace for a range of projects across APAC. These may include coastal protection projects and the building of green ports and offshore windfarms to reduce the carbon impacts of logistics and energy generation.

They are also likely to incorporate nature-based solutions, which can enable large engineering projects that support and give back to ocean environments.

Examples of nature-based solutions include artificial sandbanks, mangroves, and coral reefs. But how do you know what solutions and projects are right for your specific circumstances?

Royal HaskoningDHV’s approach to the Blue Economy

The IPCC SROCC emphasises the crucial role of the ocean and coastal ecosystems in supporting communities' adaptation to climate change and underscores the importance of safeguarding these ecosystems.

At Royal HaskoningDHV, we adhere to the three pillars of the blue economy: maintaining a balance between economic growth, ensuring social equity (including employment and poverty reduction), and preserving the environment. With seasoned expertise in the maritime and coastal industry, we tailor our extensive array of services to suit the distinctive requirements of the Blue Economy, and provide adept guidance and strategic solutions to clients globally.

Whether your focus is on coastal adaptation, value chain analysis, or port development, we bring a wealth of knowledge and a demonstrated history of delivering successful outcomes.

Through our work in APAC, we believe a Blue Economy approach will prove to be the most effective strategy for mitigating coastal vulnerabilities and addressing the maritime impacts of climate change and other environmental risks.

However, ensuring economic growth while simultaneously protecting the ocean – and the communities that rely on it – isn’t an easy balance to strike.

The first step is to conduct a Marine Spatial Planning baseline assessment to develop a thorough understanding of the economies that depend on marine and coastal resources. This baseline should include both “formal” and “informal” economies, for example, those that contribute to the national GDP and the smaller communities that use the ocean for fishing and other vital activities. The impacts of climate change must also be factored in. At Royal HaskoningDHV, we have a range of solutions and data sources to help predict these impacts, including our TWINN Climate Exposure Screening tool, which can provide hazard exposures for any location or portfolio in APAC. These findings are then analysed by our in-house climate change and disaster risk experts based in the region to establish what impacts the changing climate will have on the ocean and shoreline over the coming years. And what that will mean for communities and commerce.

The next step in this process is to understand the trade-offs between different economies in the region – tourism, maritime activities, and fisheries, for instance. You have to ask what each industry needs and how those needs affect the other sectors. Once this assessment has been completed, we help our clients understand what the future will look like as things stand – and how communities, governments, and the economy will likely be affected in the years to come.

It is also important to consider transition risks and opportunities in this equation, like changes to policies, legislation, technology, and markets, and what they will mean going forwards. This can include the transition to a low-carbon economy, which will present opportunities for the development of renewable marine energy sources.

Understanding and proactively addressing these risks and opportunities is crucial for ensuring the long-term sustainability and resilience of the Blue Economy. And for creating a roadmap for sustainable and resilient change.

From here, we help our clients visualise what they want the future to look like and devise an action plan to bring that vision to life. Projects to realise that vision may include:

• Coastal zone management
• Offshore renewable energy
• Marine and coastal infrastructure
• Shipping and ports
• Marine conservation and biodiversity
• Ocean education and training
• Ocean governance and policy
• Insurance and finance
• Marine technology and innovation
• Ports and logistics services

All of which we have vast experience delivering in the APAC region. Ultimately, regardless of the project, the key to success in the Blue Economy is in balancing the resources of the ocean with the needs of everyone who uses it – from governments and businesses to the vulnerable people who live in coastal areas. To talk about how we can help you explore this emerging opportunity, get in touch.