INDISPENSABLE ALIGNING OCEAN HEALTH AND HUMAN WELL-BEING Guidance from the Blue Ribbon Panel to the Global Partnership for Oceans A AUTHORS Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, PANEL STAFF Global Environment Facility AND ADVISORS Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Panel Chair, Chris Lischewski, President and Director of Global Change Institute, CEO, Bumble Bee Foods, United Co-Directors: University of Queensland, Australia States Claudia Mengelt, Transform Aqorau, Chief Executive Jane Lubchenco, Professor of Council James L. Anderson, The World Bank Marine Biology, Oregon State University, United States Staff: Ragnar Arnason, Professor of Kim Anh Nguyen, Timothy A. Bouley, The World Bank FAME Program, Professor of Stacee Karras, Fisheries Economics, University of Shelly Freeland, Iceland, Iceland Council Thiraphong Chansiri, President, University, Vietnam Thai Union Frozen Products PCL, David Obura, Director, CORDIO Advisors: East Africa, Kenya Nicole Glineur, Global Environment Facility Thailand Susan Jackson, International Seafood Nelson Del Rio Chairman, H.E. Rolph Payet, Minister for Sustainability Foundation Emergent Intelligence Solutions, William Morrell, Chancellor University of Seychelles, Secretariat United States Tim Rorabeck, High Liner Foods Inc. Henry Demone, CEO, High Liner Seychelles Wit Soontaranum, Thai Union Foods Foods Inc, Canada Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Secretary Charlotte Vick, Mission Blue Sylvia Earle, Founder, Mission Blue/Sylvia Earle Alliance, United Secretariat States John Tanzer, Director, Global Mary H. Feeley, Chief Geoscientist, Marine Programme, WWF ExxonMobil Corporation, United International States Johán H. Williams, Specialist Dimitri Gutierrez, Director of Director, Department for Fisheries Investigations on Oceanography and Aquaculture, Ministry of and Climate Change, Peruvian Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Institute of Marine Research (IMARPE), Peru Dawn J. Wright, Chief Scientist, Ray Hilborn, Professor of Aquatic Esri, United States and Fisheries Science, University of Jintao Xu, Washington, United States Resource Economics, Peking University, China B 16 October 2013 The ocean is fundamental to life on earth and inseparable from human well-being. It sustains hundreds of millions of people who depend on it for food and livelihood. But the ocean is in danger. Overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, ocean warming and acidification – each is threatening this indispensable natural resource. So we have come together: CEOs of seafood companies and civil society leaders, biologists and economists, policy-makers and entrepreneurs. Collectively we have centuries of experience working with, in, and on the ocean. From different perspectives, we recognize the threat to ocean health and understand the consequences for people. While there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to solving the urgent problems facing the ocean, there are solutions. Properly designed, integrated efforts can result in sustainable and shared economic development, poverty reduction, and healthy marine ecosystems. Launched by the World Bank and supported by more than 140 organizations, the Global Partnership for Oceans is a public-private partnership that was created to help improve ocean health and human well-being. We support and endorse its formation and urge the Partnership to adopt our guiding principles. Our recommendations have been designed to help the Global Partnership for Oceans, or any institution investing in oceans, achieve positive impact and sustainable outcomes. We stand at a point in history where it is neither too late nor impossible to turn the tide to restore ocean health. A new approach, like the Global Partnership for Oceans, can bring about the transformation required to change our course. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg Chair Blue Ribbon Panel 1 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 8 Earth’s Indispensable Ocean 10 Ocean Health and Livelihoods at Risk 10 Global Partnership for Oceans 12 Blue Ribbon Panel’s Vision 12 Strategy for the Global Partnership for Oceans 14 Guiding Principles 16 Criteria for Setting Priorities 17 Approaches to Measuring Progress 20 Assessing the Baseline and Readiness for Transformational Change 22 Knowledge Gaps and Limits in Capacity 23 Assessing Progress: Are Investments Meeting their Multiple Goals? 23 Developing Solutions 24 Design of Holistic Solutions through Public-Private Partnerships 27 Conclusions and Call to Action 30 Appendix 34 Biographical Sketch of Panel Members and Staff 34 Glossary of Terms 38 References 39 3 4 Country Income Level and Exclusive Economic Zones Kilometers 0 900 1,800 3,600 5,400 7,200 Exclusive Economic Zones Countries Income Level Income Level Low Income Low Income Lower-Middle Income Lower-Middle Income Upper-Middle Income Upper-Middle Income High Income High Income Sources: Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, TomTom, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, Not Available FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster Map illustrates global distribution of income levels by country and associated Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). EEZs are important for country economies. 5 ALIGNING OCEAN HEALTH AND HUMAN WELLBEING 6 he ocean is a critical part of Earth’s life-support Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO) at the World Tsystem and vital for the well-being of humanity. Ocean Summit in Singapore in 2012. The GPO is Once thought to be limitless, the ocean’s resources a global, public-private partnership, with the aim are showing serious signs of deterioration and to address three key ocean challenges: (i) increase depletion on a global scale. Adverse changes are sustainable seafood and livelihoods from fisheries accelerating at an unprecedented rate relative to the and aquaculture, (ii) reverse habitat loss, and (iii) changes seen over millions of years. [1, 2, 3] reduce pollution. The Blue Ribbon Panel has been tasked with providing high-level strategic advice on Human activities on land and in the ocean principles and criteria to select priorities to improve are causing rapid deterioration in the marine the sustainable use of our ocean resources, as well as environment. The marine environment has been to identify approaches that will stop and reverse the altered through discharge of manufacturing and decline in ocean resources. Reversing this decline agricultural pollutants and solid and liquid waste, is, without doubt, an enormous challenge given increased atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, the scale of the problems and the extent of human overfishing, unsustainable coastal development, and influence on the world’s ocean. increased shipping and mining activities. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, increasing At the same time, however, this is also a time of atmospheric CO2 concentrations have resulted in great potential and opportunity. Scientific and average sea surface temperatures rising by 0.9oC applied knowledge, capacity, technology, and cross- and ocean acidification by 0.1 pH units (which is sectoral engagement have reached a level that equivalent to a 26 percent increase in hydrogen enables us to pursue much-needed development ion concentration). [1, 4, 5] At the same time, oxygen in an integrated and sustainable manner. Research levels in the ocean have been decreasing as a result and new technologies have greatly expanded our of ocean warming and other factors such as coastal understanding of the ocean, and approaches for eutrophication (from changing coastal land-use). [4, sustainable resource management and conservation 6, 7] As of 2010, there were more than 400 coastal have been applied with a range of successes and systems, covering an area greater than 245,000 km2, failures. With this knowledge and experience comes considered very low in oxygen (hypoxic). [4] These new capacity and responsibility to solve ocean-related negative trends threaten the diversity and integrity issues such as marine pollution, habitat degradation, of the ecosystem and its ability to provide food and and overfishing, to achieve balanced gains in social, livelihoods at many locations. We must reverse these economic, and environmental spheres. trends to ensure that future generations can benefit from the ocean’s beauty and wealth. The Blue Ribbon Panel has identified five high-level principles to guide the selection and prioritization of As a diverse panel of leaders in industry, government, initiatives aimed at aligning ocean health and human conservation, and academia, we have come together well-being: (1) sustainable livelihoods, social equity, to lend a collective voice toward building sustainable and food security; (2) a healthy ocean; (3) effective solutions for the ocean. We recognize that we need governance systems; (4) long-term viability and (5) to improve the stewardship of the ocean. We have capacity building and innovation. Integrating these the opportunity and responsibility to rapidly achieve principles through multi-dimensional partnerships a more sustainable use of resources on land and in focused on achieving economic and socio-ecological the ocean to avoid causing irreversible changes in sustainability is considered to be essential for the environment and society that will jeopardize lasting success. The Panel recognizes that problems the long-term viability of communities, industries, and solutions vary across the world’s ocean; and governments, and conservation efforts alike. For consequently, a “one-size-fits-all” approach is these reasons, the World Bank announced the unlikely to work. 7 INTRODUCTION 8 “The needs of people in developing countries are very important