Determination of criteria for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy within the framework of the protection of the Ukrainian sea coast

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Determination of criteria for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy within the framework of the protection of the Ukrainian sea coast

PhD in Earth Sciences, Research Fellow

State Organization ”Institute of market and economic-ecological researches of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”, Ukraine

Summary. The blue economy is a key component of the global economy. It covers all economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts. In the context of the blue economy, the interaction of the activities of the sea-coast system is considered a key source of economic potential that can contribute to sustainable innovation, the development of modern technologies and new markets. In addition, the blue economy takes into account the social, environmental and economic aspects of development, ensuring a balance between economic growth and environmental protection. The paper provides criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainable development of the blue economy. They are structured around four dimensions of sustainability, based on environmental, economic, social and governance aspects. A conceptual structure of the sustainable development of the blue economy in the subsector «Coastal defence and flood protection» for the Ukrainian sea coast has been built. The proposed criteria and indicators meet EU requirements for the sustainability of the blue economy and reflect the main aspects of sustainability. blue economy sustainability criteria

Keywords: blue economy, sustainability, criteria and indicators, natural capital, environmental assets, governance, ecosystem, socio-economic system, Ukrainian sea coast.

It is known [1,2] that according to the definition of the European Commission, the blue economy is all economic activity related to oceans, seas and coasts. The blue economy covers a wide range of interconnected existing and emerging sectors.

The blue growth of countries with a transition economy is closely related to the features of sustainable development [3] and is based on fundamental economic- ecological contradictions and conflicts [4, 5, 6].

In March 2021, the European Commission published the report «Sustainability Criteria for the Blue Economy» [7]. The report describes the results of research aimed at determining the main criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy. According to this report, the stock of natural resources of the ocean with its biotic and abiotic components and services is called natural capital. This natural capital of the ocean provides ecosystem services, which are the basis of the blue economy and related socio-economic development. The flows of goods and services provided by marine and coastal ecosystem services can be divided into

The European Commission has defined the working title of a sustainable blue economy - a sustainable blue economy promotes economic growth, social integration and improved livelihoods, while ensuring the environmental sustainability of the natural capital of the oceans and seas. The blue economy encompasses all sectoral and cross-sectoral economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts. It includes new sectors and economic value based on natural capital and non-market goods and services through the conservation of marine habitats and ecosystem services.

The definition of the concepts of criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy can be reached based on the principles given in [7, 10], namely: Criteria are specific features or characteristics of systems to be evaluated and monitored, and indicators are the corresponding measurable three categories according to the General International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) [8]: provisioning services (e.g. food, water and energy), regulatory services (e.g. climate and weather regulation) and cultural services (e.g. recreational benefits). Also, the ocean's natural capital and associated services are vulnerable to the (cumulative) pressure of human activity. With growing concern about the impact of climate change and human activities on marine habitats and biodiversity, the blue economy is attracting increasing attention, especially for the services that provide and regulate the oceans [9]. Based on the above principles, the European Commission presents the structure of ecosystem services in the direction from natural capital to benefit for society (Fig. 1) [7].

Fig. 1. Natural capital, ecosystem services and their use in socio-economic systems

Source: based on [7]

variables that reflect each criterion and can be defined qualitatively or quantitatively. A unit of measurement is associated with each indicator. A clear distinction between «what to measure» (criteria) and «how to measure» (indicators) is useful for the clear logic and ease of use of the Blue Economy Sustainability Framework.

The criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of blue economy activities are structured around four dimensions of sustainability, based on environmental, economic, social and governance aspects of sustainability. The analysis of these parameters of sustainability in various sectors of the blue economy gave grounds for building a conceptual structure of sustainability of the blue economy for the Ukrainian sea coast in the subsector «Coastal defence and flood protection». This structure is based on the general criteria of governance (Table 1), economic (Table 2), social (Table 3) and environmental (Table 4) dimensions.

Table 1

Proposed criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy for the governance dimension

Table 2

Proposed criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy for the economic dimension

Table 3

Proposed criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy for the social dimension

Table 4

Proposed criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy for the environmental dimension

Thus, the proposed criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of the blue economy for the Ukrainian sea coast within the subsector «Coastal defence and flood protection» meet the EU requirements for the sustainability of the blue economy and reflect the main environmental, economic, social and governance aspects of the sustainability of this subsector.

References:

[1] European Commission. What is the blue economy? (2018). Retrieved from https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/publications/what-blue-economy_en. (Accessed: 25 October 2023)

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[7] European Commission, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, Sustainability criteria for the blue economy - Main report. (2021). Publications Office. DOI: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2826/399476.

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