Understanding The Background Of Blue Economy And Bangladesh.

 Blue Economy and Bangladesh 

The Blue Economy goes beyond the Green Economy. The concept of. t Blue Economy is a revolution that has become a topic of discussion in Bangladesh just after the maritime victory over India and Myanmar. The sea victory has brought in the aspect of the blue economy in Bangladesh. This economic philosophy was first introduced in 1994 by Prof. Gunter Pauli when asked by the United Nations to reflect on I the business models of the future. Now, substantiated by over 180 concrete cases, it s increasingly clear that it is possible to generate more revenue while generating more jobs and still compete in the global market. Recent times saw a huge collapse in the global economy, of which Bangladesh was fortunate not to be directly affected. However, in recent days Bangladesh is introducing a blue economy in many fields and keeping pace with global advancement. What is Blue Economy: The concept of 'Blue Economy or Ocean Economy' has come out from the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. Gunter Pauli first designed the blue economy concept. He first used the term 'Blue Economy' in his book 'The Blue Economy 100-years- 100 innovations 100 million jobs which is published in 2010. The book presents 100 innovations in the areas of water, energy, buildings, and food supply. The economical activities which are related to the Ocean are called Blue Economy. The important elements of the blue economy are seaborne trade, marine bio-prospecting oil, and gases, port economy, exploration of minerals, coastal tourism, production of renewable energy, etc. The Concept of Blue Economy in Bangladesh The concept of the blue economy in our country can be developed in emerging sectors such as shipping and port facilities, seaborne trade, fisheries, coastal tourism, aquaculture, and renewable blue. energy, biotechnology, submarine mining, etc. Oceans offer enormous potential for the generation of renewable energy -- wind, wave, tidal -- biomass and thermal Conversion, and salinity gradients. According to Article 56 of UNCLOS. Bangladesh is entitled to explore such renewable blue energy of EEZ to produce energy. This renewable energy source could help diversify our energy portfolios and secure higher levels of energy security. Like other coastal states, particularly in u highest potential for electricity generation can be in the offshore wind turbines sector. Global offshore wind capacity is growing at an incredible rate of 40% per year, producing 7,100 megawatts of electricity in 2013.

From this, it can be Predicted that the growing electricity demand can be mitigated by using wind for producing electricity in Bangladesh. eighty percent of global trade by volume, and 70% by value, is carried out by sea and handled by ports worldwide. According to the 2013 edition of the Review of Maritime Transport of UNCTAD, global seaborne trade has increased by 4.3%, with the total reaching over 9 billion tons in 2012 for the first time. If we want to be beneath • d from China's economy, the world's largest economy according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to develop a blue economy based on global seaborne trade among coastal states, the three ports -- Chittagong Port, Mongia ort and Paira Port -- have to be developed as transit points. Globally, 350 million jobs are linked to marine fisheries, with 90% of fishers living in developing countries. Marine fisheries contribute at least 20% of total •fish people are fully .and directly dependent on production in Bangladesh and 500,000 the sector. According to the Bay of Bengal Large Maritime Ecosystem Project run under the supervision of FAO in 2009, about 60 lac tons of fish that constitute 16% of world production are produced annually from the Bay of Bengal, and about 45 lac people are engaged in fisher Evolution of Blue Economy: 'The Blue Economy: I 0 years - 100 innovations-100 million jobs' is a book by Gunter Pauli. The book expresses the ultimate aim that a Blue Economy business model will shift society from scarcity to abundance "with what is locally available", by tackling issues that cause environmental and related problems in new ways. The book highlights potential benefits in connecting and combining seemingly disparate environmental problems with open-source scientific solutions based upon physical processes common in the natural world, to create solutions that are both environmentally beneficial and which have financial and wider social benefits. The book suggests that we can alter how we run our industrial processes and tackle resultant environmental problems, refocusing from the use of rare and high-energy cost resources to instead seeking solutions based on simpler and cleaner technologies. The book proposes to focus on the generation of more value, instead of blindly cutting costs. The book aims to inspire entrepreneurs to adopt its insights, by demonstrating ways in which this can create economic benefits via job creation, reduced energy use, and more revenue streams from each step of the process, at the same time benefiting the communities involved. The blue economy' is presented in 14 chapters, each of which investigates an aspect of the world's economies and offers a series of innovations capable of making aspects of those economies sustainable. By 2014, the book has been translated into +30 languages worldwide. Blue Economy in Bangladesh. From Scarcity to Abundance: Many countries have benefited from exploiting sea resources;

Bangladesh is a new entrant in this sector. The settlement of maritime disputes with India and Myanmar has opened a new horizon for the country. The potential of the sea economy or blue economy has been discussed on many occasions with emphasis on framing strategies. Researchers, academicians, and economists have suggested several options for exploiting marine resources. A planned and coordinated effort, along with scarcity to abundance by tackling issues that cause environmental and are related to sustained political will, is required for exploiting these resources. The ultimate aim of the business model of the blue economy is to transform the country's problems • new ways (Gunter Pauli 2010). •The potential benefit of the Blue economy is to address economic problems with innovative •solutions that are environmentally beneficial and which have financial and wider social benefits. Blue Growth is the long-term strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors. as a whole. Seas and oceans are drivers of the Blue Economy while technology and, knowledge is the twin resources to take control over these resources. The 'blue economy has created roughly 5.4 million jobs in the EU alone and generates groups. the added value of almost €500 billion a year. Blue sectors are numerous, consisting of aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine biotechnology, ocean energy, seabed mining, etc. Strategies of various countries and shared experiences of experts were discussed at a seminar organized by the Bureau of Investment titled, "Blue Economy of Bangladesh" and a subsequent international seminar organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now, it is for the country to decide on its strategy based on our geostrategic advantages.

Our strategic thinking should be aligned with the reality for which policy continuity is one of the priorities. According to some experts, about 475 species of fish are available in the Bay. Annually 6.6 million tons of fish are caught, of which a very small portion has been exploited by our fishermen. It is also worth mentioning that, according to FAO estimates (2012), the protein demand of about 1.0 billion people in the world has been met by sea. Also, about 90 percent of people from developing countries are engaged in fishing and the sea is employing about 14 million people while contributing about $400bn to the world economy.• The contribution of the fish and fisheries sector to our GDP (gross domestic product) is about 4.37 percent (2012-13) which can be increased significantly if we can add sea resources. But for this, special training is required since fishing techniques need to be upgraded to exploit sea resources. Even though about 1.71 million people are engaged in this sector, human resources, infrastructure, and institutions are still lacking because fishing industrial trawlers and skilled manpower are required to take care of long-line fishing.

Besides fish resources, there are mineral resources in the seabed. Salt is one of the important resources that meet our daily needs. However, Bangladesh's salt production has remained stagnant at 350 thousand metric tons since 2009, as per the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Resources Program (2009). Salt industries have been set up in the coastal areas and there are about 300 refining units. Production of industrial salt can be done using advanced technologies and eventually, it can become an export product. other mineral resources beneficial to Bangladesh, as mentioned at the Bureau of Investment seminar, are gas, copper, magnesium, nickel, and precious metals, including cobalt. Like many developed countries, Bangladesh can also utilize the sea for producing renewable electricity. In addition, some industrial sectors such as ship-building and ship-breaking industries and pharmaceuticals can also benefit from the sea resources.

With regards to the institutional capabilities of the Blue Economy, there are currently three national marine academies and 22 other public-private academies. These marine academies can train 600 skilled sailors and marine officers a year. Public and private universities should open separate units or departments to train and develop skilled human resources in the sector. Coastal shipping should be developed. Export diversification is possible if we can fully exploit our maritime resources. The pharmaceutical industry can also benefit from utilizing marine minerals. Essential components to provide knowledge, legal certainty, and security in the blue economy are marine knowledge to improve access to information about the sea; maritime Spatial (space-related) planning and integrated maritime surveillance to give authorities a better picture of what is happening at sea and finally partnership with the strategic countries to foster cooperation between countries. We need to identify the sectors which have the most potential like aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine biotechnology, ocean energy (gas, oil, etc.), and seabed mining.

No doubt the victory of gaining a vast maritime territory, which is more than 80 percent of the country's original size, is a great opportunity for us. The gain is about 118,813 square km. 200 nautical miles (nm) of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and all kinds of animal and non-animal resources under the continental shelf Lip to 35A living organisms. nm from the Chittagong coast. It is undoubtedly good news for us that Our Waste; the territory has increased from 6.4 percent to 44.46 percent. Bangladesh, In DLA, and Myanmar, is the three strategic countries that can move further to try economic benefits. Now we should be more concerned to harness the sewing territory. economy concept, which came out of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. In B Integrated Maritime Policy for Blue Economy: Gunter Pauli designed blue Bangladesh, discussions on the blue economy started after the settlement of the maritime boundary delimitation dispute with Myanmar and India. The proliferation of marine resources in this area offers Bangladesh scope for sustainable economic development, Which needs an integrated maritime policy. According to Article 56 of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, the coastal state (Bangladesh) has sovereign rights in the exclusive economic zone to explore and exploit, Conserving, and manage the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and about other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents, and winds. Article 56 grants coastal states jurisdiction over the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures; marine scientific research; protection and preservation of the marine environment, etc.

Article 77 of UNCLOS says that the coastal state exercises sovereign rights over the continental shelf for exploiting the minerals and other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil, together with Sustainable Blue Economy: Sustainable blue economy and blue growth for sustainable development are not possible without ensuring maritime security, protecting and preserving the marine environment, conserving marine living and non-living resources and preventing marine pollution. Piracy, trafficking of drugs, humans, and arms, and narco-terrorism have become common in the high seas and EEZ areas of Bangladesh. Oil and chemical substances discharged from the industrial zone in the north, sewage discharged from the urban areas, oil spills, deck drainage at the mouth of the river, and the ship breaking industry are primarily responsible for marine pollution.

Global climate change is also a threat to our marine biodiversity. The effects of global climate change on the marine environment and biodiversity along with the blue economy and sustainable development should be specially considered. What is most important for Bangladesh now is to enact an integrated maritime policy focusing on maritime security; maritime pollution; preservation of aril protection of the marine living and non-living resources; maritime scientific research and transfer of technology; protecting the marine environment; global climate change: etc.

The government, Bangladesh navy, universities, and researchers concerned should work together for adopting an integrated maritime policy for the long-term sustainable use of marine resources and for developing a sustainable blue economy. Conclusion: The concept of the Blue Economy has opened a new horizon for the .development of the coastal countries through utilizing sea and Man developers at the national and international levels. The concept has become a buzz end econ work resource development, particularly in drafting the post-20I 5 dev for sustainer Blue Economy • in the context of sustainable development and goals. We consider' poverty eradication as one of the important tools available for achieving sustainable development. We emphasize that it should contribute to eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion, improving human welfare, and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for anti white maintaining the healthy functioning of the earth's ecosystem.