In news- Recently, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Earth Sciences said that the Blue Economy is the sixth dimension of the Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030.
About Blue Economy-
- India’s blue economy is understood as a subset of the national economy comprising an entire ocean resources system and human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones within the country’s legal jurisdiction.
- A Draft Policy document on Blue Economy was prepared by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) taking into consideration the reports of the expert working groups which emphasizes holistic development and growth of India’s Blue Economy.
- The following seven thematic areas or pillars are identified:
- National accounting framework for the blue economy and ocean governance.
- Coastal Marine Spatial Planning and Tourism.
- Marine fisheries, aquaculture, and fish processing.
- Manufacturing, Emerging industries, trade, technology, services, and skill development.
- Logistics, infrastructure and shipping, including trans-shipments.
- Coastal and deep-sea mining and offshore energy.
- Security, strategic dimensions, and international engagement.
- The draft aims to enhance the contribution of the blue economy to India’s GDP, improve lives of coastal communities, preserve marine biodiversity, and maintain the national security of marine areas and resources.
- It highlighted the blue economy as one of the ten core dimensions for national growth.
History of the concept of Blue Economy-
- The economic philosophy of the Blue Economy was first introduced in 1994 by Professor Gunter Pauli at the United Nations University (UNU) to reflect the needs of future growth and prosperity, along with the threats posed by global warming.
- The concept was based on developing more sustainable models of development including concepts of engineering based on “no waste and no emissions”.
- The Blue Economy assumed greater importance after the Third Earth Summit Conference – Rio+20 in 2012.
- The conference focused inter alia on expanding the concept of Green Economy to include the Blue Economy.
- The concept received a fillip when the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 sought to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” as a guiding principle for global governance and use of ocean resources.
Source: PIB
