The Blue Economy and the Barcelona Convention-Mediterranean Sea Region “Some Food for Thoughts”

Year 2021, Volume: 4 Issue: 2, 407 - 440, 14.10.2022

Xxx Ademuni-odeke Mehmet Emin Birpınar

Abstract

Oceans, seas, and marine resources are vital to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That makes the sustainability of ocean resources a global priority. The Blue Economy issues for sustainable development are not only global but are also central to the achievement of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda and require global solutions framed in national and regional agendas for oceans and seas and the human race. This is because oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers are essential to human life. They promote human well-being and livelihoods, food security, employment, industry, innovation, sustainable communities, health, tourism, disaster protection, and act as carbon sinks. However, human activities continue to endanger the very oceans, seas, and marine resources they depend on, thereby harming mankind and the planet. Fundamental to these activities is human exploitation of energy from non-sustainable, non-renewable, and non-clean fossil sources termed the Brown Economy Model. Environmentally sustainable ocean and coastal areas are the primary goal of a sustainable Blue Economy - a move away from the Brown Economy. It is argued that the solution to sustainability is concurrent reversal to the Blue Economy offshore and the Green Economy onshore. Both concepts refer to the decoupling of socioeconomic progress from environmental and ecosystem damage: weaning the human race from the current fossil-energy-based economic model (the Brown Economy), the principal sources of gases responsible for ozone depletion and, consequently, global warming and climatic change.
The SDG 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development incorporates the Blue Economy concept. Accordingly, the UN Conference to Support the Implementation of SDG14 calls on all stakeholders to support the promotion and strengthening of sustainable ocean-based economies, which include managed fisheries, eco-tourism, aquaculture, maritime transportation, and renewable energy. However, to this should be added the Green Economy, the onshore equivalent of the offshore Blue Economy; a mechanism hitherto omitted from the SDG mention. Nevertheless, the quest for the Blue Economy faces many hurdles mainly from fossil fuel lobbies, challenges of underinvestment in renewable and clean energy sources, and underrated problems of the inevitable transition from Brown to Blue and Green Economies, inter alia. This paper focuses on the application of the renewable energy-based Blue and Green Economic Models in the Mediterranean Region against the backdrop of the Barcelona Convention and UN-related programs, notably the quest for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The paper argues that without including, and synchronizing with, the Green Economy, the transition from the Brown Economy to the Blue Economy worldwide would be more difficult to achieve as the two are intertwined. This is more so in the Mediterranean basin where most of the economies and the surrounding areas are heavily dependent on the production, export, and usage of fossil fuels (gas and oil).
Acknowledging its disadvantages and other shortcomings, the paper concludes that overall advantages of the Blue and Green Economies far outweigh their drawbacks.

Keywords

Barcelona Convention, Mediterranean Sea Region, Blue Economy, Green Economy, Brown Economy, Sustainable Development Goal 14, Mediterranean Action Plan, Marine Enviroment, Clean Renewale Energy, Climate Change, Global Warming

Mavi Ekonomi ve Barselona Sözleşmesi –Akdeniz Bölgesi “Fikri Besleyen Mülahazalar”

Abstract

Okyanuslar, denizler ve deniz kaynakları, Birleşmiş Milletler'in Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedeflerine (SKH) ve 2030 Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Gündemine ulaşılması için hayati önem taşımaktadır. Bu da okyanus kaynaklarının sürdürülebilirliğini küresel bir öncelik haline getirmektedir. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma için Mavi Ekonomi konuları hem küreseldir, hem de Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedeflerinin ve 2030 Gündeminin başarılması için de merkezi bir öneme sahiptir. Mavi Ekonomi sorunları, okyanuslar, denizler ve insan ırkı için ulusal ve bölgesel gündemlerle çerçevelenmiş küresel çözümler gerektirmektedir. Bunun sebebi okyanusların, denizlerin, göllerin ve nehirlerin insan hayatı için mutlaka gerekli olmasıdır. Bu su kaynakları insan refahını ve geçim kaynaklarını, gıda güvenliğini, istihdamı, endüstriyi, yeniliği, sürdürülebilir toplulukları, sağlığı, turizmi, afetten korunmayı destekler ve karbon yutucu görevi görürler. Ancak, insanlar bağımlı oldukları okyanusları, denizleri ve deniz kaynaklarını faaliyetleri ile tehlikeye atmaya devam etmekte ve böylece insanlığa ve gezegene zarar vermektedir. Bu faaliyetlerin temelinde, insanların, sürdürülebilir olmayan, yenilenemeyen ve temiz olmayan fosil kaynaklardan enerji elde etmesi yatmaktadır ve bu durum Kahverengi Ekonomi Modeli olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Çevresel açıdan sürdürülebilir okyanus ve kıyı alanları, Kahverengi Ekonomiden uzaklaşma niteliğini taşıyan sürdürülebilir bir Mavi Ekonominin birincil hedefidir. Sürdürülebilirliğin sağlanması için çözüm yolunun, denizde Mavi Ekonomiye ve karada Yeşil Ekonomiye eş zamanlı olarak geri dönüş olduğu savunulmaktadır. Her iki kavram da sosyoekonomik gelişimin, çevresel ve ekosistem zararlarından ayrıştırılmasına; insan ırkının, ozon tabakasının incelmesinden ve dolayısıyla küresel ısınma ve iklim değişikliğinden sorumlu başlıca gazların kaynakları olan mevcut fosil enerji temelli ekonomik modelden (Kahverengi Ekonomi) vazgeçirilmesine atıf yapmaktadır.
2030 Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Gündemi'nin 14. Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedefleri Mavi Ekonomi kavramını içermektedir. Bu doğrultuda, BM SKH 14'ün Uygulanmasını Destekleme Konferansı, tüm paydaşları, sürdürülebilir okyanus temelli ekonomileri teşvik etmeye ve bu ekonomilerin güçlendirilmesini desteklemeye çağırmaktadır. Bu okyanus temelli ekonomilerin içerisinde kontrollü balıkçılık, eko-turizm, su ürünleri yetiştiriciliği, deniz taşımacılığı ve yenilenebilir enerji yer almaktadır. Ancak buna, şimdiye kadar SKH’de söz edilmeyen bir mekanizma olan, denizdeki Mavi Ekonominin kara eşdeğeri olan Yeşil Ekonomi de eklenmelidir. Bununla birlikte, Mavi Ekonomi arayışı, başta fosil yakıt lobileri olmak üzere; yenilenebilir ve temiz enerji kaynaklarına yeterince yatırım yapılmamasından kaynaklanan zorluklar; Kahverengi Ekonomiden Mavi- Yeşil Ekonomilere kaçınılmaz geçişte göz ardı edilen sorunlar gibi pek çok engelle karşı karşıyadır. Bu makale, Barselona Sözleşmesi ve BM'nin ilgili programları, özellikle de 2030 Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Gündemi hedefleri çerçevesinde Akdeniz Bölgesi'nde yenilenebilir enerji temelli Mavi ve Yeşil Ekonomik Modellerin uygulanmasına odaklanmaktadır. Bu makale, Mavi Ekonomi ile Yeşil Ekonomi birbiriyle iç içe geçtiği için, Yeşil Ekonomi dahil edilmeden ve Yeşil Ekonomi ile senkronize edilmeden, dünya çapında Kahverengi Ekonomiden Mavi Ekonomiye geçişin başarılmasının daha zor olacağını savunmaktadır. Bu durum, ekonomilerin ve çevre bölgelerinin çoğunun fosil yakıtların (gaz ve petrol) üretimine, ihracatına ve kullanımına büyük ölçüde bağımlı olduğu Akdeniz havzasında daha da etkilidir.
Bu çalışma, Mavi ve Yeşil Ekonomilerin dezavantajlarını ve diğer eksikliklerini kabul etmekle beraber, genel avantajlarının dezavantajlarından çok daha ağır bastığı sonucuna varmaktadır.

Keywords

Barselona Sözleşmesi, Akdeniz Bölgesi, Mavi Ekonomi, Yeşil Ekonomi, Kahverengi Ekonomi, Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma Hedefleri 14, Deniz Çevresi, Temiz Yenilenebilir Enerji, İklim Değişikliği, Küresel Isınma

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