Integrated maritime policy for blue economy

GUNTER Pauli designed the blue economy concept, which came out of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. In Bangladesh, discussions on blue economy started after the settlement of maritime boundary delimitation dispute with Myanmar and India. 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 for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and with regard to 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 living organisms.

The concept of blue economy in our country can be developed in emerging sectors such as shipping and port facilities, seaborne trade, fisheries, coastal tourism, aquaculture, 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 the EU, the highest potential for electricity generation can be in the offshore wind turbines sector. Global offshore wind capacity is growing at the incredible rate of 40% per year, producing 7,100 megawatts of electricity in 2013. From this, it can be predicted that the growing demand of electricity can be mitigated 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 increase by 4.3%, with the total reaching over 9 billion tons in 2012 for the first time ever. If we want to be benefitted from China's economy, the world's largest economy according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to develop blue economy based on global seaborne trade among coastal states, the three ports -- Chittagong Port, Mongla Port and Pira 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 production in Bangladesh and 500,000 people are fully and directly dependent on 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 fishes that constitute 16% of world production are produced annually from the Bay of Bengal, and about 45 lac people are engaged in fishery.

Sustainable blue economy and blue growth for sustainable development are not possible without ensuring maritime security, protecting and preserving 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 spill, 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 for our marine biodiversity. The effects of global climate change on marine environment and biodiversity along with 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 and protection of marine living and non-living resources; maritime scientific research and transfer of technology; protecting marine environment; global climate change, etc. The policy can be formulated taking into consideration UNCLOS 1982, the conventions adopted by International Maritime Organization (IMO), conventions adopted by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) etc. Article 266 of UNCLOS deals with development and transfer of maritime technology and Article 275 urges the states to establish national and regional centres for scientific research.

As effective scientific research is a basic precondition for rational exploitation of the sea's resources, Bangladesh should seek international cooperation and work with IMO, UNEP, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to develop marine scientific research in Bangladesh. The government, Bangladesh navy, universities and researchers concerned should work together for adopting integrated maritime policy for the long-term sustainable use of marine resources and for developing sustainable blue economy.

The writers are Professor and Head, and Lecturer, Department of Law, World University of Bangladesh.  E-mail: jahangir0706@gmail.com