Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy
Patti Harris, CEO, Bloomberg Philanthropies
This week, I traveled to Oslo to attend the 6th annual convening of Our Ocean, and after spending time with so many like-minded partners and leaders from across sectors and around the world, I’m more optimistic than ever about what’s possible for the global movement to protect the ocean.Read more → (3 minute read)
United Nations
The signatories to the principles include the container ship and supply vessel operator A.P. Møller – Mærsk, food and beverage company PepsiCo, and Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages one of the world’s largest funds with over US$ 1 trillion in assets.Read more → (10 minute read)
J.A. Bower Tourism
Royal Caribbean announced last week that its fifth Oasis-class ship will be named Wonder of the Seas. Perhaps more interestingly, the cruise line also announced that it will homeport in Shanghai. The 5,448-passenger new vessel, set to become the largest ship in the world at the time of its 2021 debut, will reportedly serve the Chinese market year-round.
Read more → (4 minute read)
Dan Jacobson Energy Solutions
California needs to find a way to harness the wind off its coast to power an electric grid that will rely more than ever on clean, renewable energy.Read more → (3 minute read)
Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries & Aquaculture
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), responsible for the world’s leading sustainable seafood ecolabel and certification programme, has today published a report showing continued growth in the demand for and supply of sustainable seafood.
Read more → (5 minute read)
Kuni Chen Tourism
Read more → (4 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative Energy Solutions
Scaling up wave-energy generation to tackle climate change needs to start with smaller projects in a lower-risk environment, say expertsRead more → (13 minute read)
Philip Warburg, Yale Climate Connections Energy Solutions
Advances in technology, improved economics, and broad political support are making wind power a formidable twenty-first century energy resource. Top-ranking Denmark draws 41% of its electricity from wind; Ireland follows with 28%; the European Union as a whole gets 14% of its power from wind.
Read more → (8 minute read)
Ben Lamm, Founder, Hypergiant Fisheries & Aquaculture
While the Amazon plays a vital role in global carbon absorption (and we should continue to try and save it), between 1994 and 2007, our oceans absorbed 34 gigatons of the world’s carbon through algae, vegetation, and coral. In other words, the trees might not save us—but the oceans could.Read more → (8 minute read)
Brad Plumer Energy Solutions
Climate change is heating the oceans and altering their chemistry so dramatically that it is threatening seafood supplies, fueling cyclones and floods and posing profound risks to the hundreds of millions of people living along the coasts.
Read more → (8 minute read)
NASA Earth Observatory Tourism
Sea surface temperatures have a large influence on climate and weather. For example, every 3 to 7 years a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean along the equator warms by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius. This warming is a hallmark of the climate pattern El Niño, which changes rainfall patterns around the globe, causing heavy rainfall in the southern United States and severe drought in Australia, Indonesia, and southern Asia.Read more → (14 minute read)
Ocean Conservancy Plastics & Pollution
You’ve probably seen videos of these impacts first hand, like a sea turtle with a plastic straw embedded in its nose or a whale entangled in a fishing net, approaching divers that release it from harm. Some of these incidents have happy endings, but in reality, many more do not. Plastic has been found in more than 60% of all seabirds and in 100% of sea turtles species, that mistake plastic for food. And when animals ingest plastic, it can cause life-threatening problems, including reduced fitness, nutrient uptake and feeding efficiency—all vital for survival. Every year, 8 million metric tons...
Read more → (2 minute read)
Dieter Holger, Wall Street Journal Fisheries & Aquaculture
Aquaculture is surfacing as an attractive sector for green investors. The farming of fish, and other waterborne organic protein, such as algae, is becoming increasingly important to the world’s growing population. Aquaculture’s share of global fish consumption climbed to 50% in 2014 from 18% in 1990, and is expected to reach 57% by 2025, according to UBS.
Read more → (4 minute read)
The Nature Conservancy Tourism
The world’s first insurance policy on a coral reef is now in place in Mexico
Read more → (3 minute read)
Todd Woody, National Geographic Fisheries & Aquaculture
Farming seaweed, then sinking the mature plants to the bottom of the ocean, could be an effective way to fight warming. So why don’t we do it?
Read more → (5 minute read)
World Ocean Initiative
Japan is grappling with the blue economy agenda as it tries to increase economic growth and social wellbeing while protecting the environmentRead more → (15 minute read)
Various (Washington Post, Seattle Times)
Is there a person in the world that doesn’t like to sit on the beach, take a short break from the daily grind, and enjoy the beautiful ocean scenery?Read more → (4 minute read)
Charles Haine Shipping & Ports
The UK government recently launched a clean maritime plan to achieve zero-emission shipping and clean growth for the maritime sector—one of the first countries to do so. A key action is that, by 2025, all new vessels being ordered for use in UK waters are designed with zero-emission propulsion capability.Read more → (13 minute read)
Kelly Bastone, Outside Magazine Fisheries & Aquaculture
Like many Florida waters, Lake Bonnet had become overrun with plant slime. In fact, all 50 states and many countries worldwide are struggling with epidemic levels of algae that can prove toxic to people and ecosystems. “Red tides” of algae along Florida’s Gulf Coast have killed tons of fish and marine mammals.Read more → (10 minute read)
TED talk by Tim Flannery Fisheries & Aquaculture
It's time for planetary-scale interventions to combat climate change -- and environmentalist Tim Flannery thinks seaweed can help.
Read more → (14 minute video)
