Oceans and the blue economy
For many of us, being in water, surrounded by the beauty and the power of an ocean, creates a feeling of freedom. We can move in three dimensions and the notion of being part of the vast infinite mass of Earth truly becomes apparent. But what we rarely think of when we’re fully immersed in deep seas, is the fact that oceans are still not owned or privatised. The feeling of freedom is seemingly not only a personal feeling, but an actual state of reality. To be in the ocean, is to be absorbed in a part of nature that is still free and not bargained for, owned or ruled over. However, this is about to shift and it’s happening faster than you might think. Because just like land, oceans are profitable and an open goldmine ready to be harvested by large companies and consortiums.
Land on Earth was for millions of years free and used by all living things throughout their lives. With early human settlements and the beginning of farming, things started to shift. We went from a nomadic lifestyle to one where a place became important. Land became a resource to own, not just live by and live with. Over the following thousands of years we’ve seen this idea develop through the creation of cities, kingdoms, colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy. Today there are only a few land pieces left on Earth still not owned by anyone, the so-called Terra Nullius, and these are Bir Tawil between Egypt and Sudan, a few pockets involved on the Croatia–Serbia border, and vast chunks of Antarctica. Via human actions, land went from natural existence to being owned and ruled over. Yet, the idea that the planet can be owned by anyone is both philosophically and economically questionable. Why would some of us have the right to own parts of the one large ecosystem that is Earth?
The economic use of oceans is normally referred to as ‘The blue economy’ and it’s valued at around $1.5 trillion per year 〔expected to double by 2030, making it the seventh largest economy in the world. ‘The blue economy’ is all economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts where the oceans are increasingly viewed as a lucrative new frontier for economic development. About 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water. Water also exists in the air as water vapour, in rivers and lakes, in icecaps and glaciers, in the ground as soil moisture and even inside your own body. With the opportunity to create business out of such a large matter of material, it’s not any surprise that there is a heavy focus on ‘The blue economy’ and what it might be able to bring.
Parallel to the papers and articles on the great opportunity of a new major blue economy we find more concerned voices expressing fear of capitalism overpowering the freedom of water. In 2022, British economist Guy Standing released his new book “The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea” where he looks at the exploitation of the oceans by overfishing, mining, waste and rising temperatures and offers radical ideas for creating new forms of common property to safeguard our shared oceans. The book tells the story of how UNCLOS〔the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea〕in 1982 endorsed the biggest enclosure in history, granting states Exclusive Economic Zones 〔EEZs〕 extending 200 nautical miles from their coastlines. This set in following procedures and institutional mechanisms that have expanded privatisation and financialisation to all parts of the marine economy with a plundering of the ocean – the blue common. The result is a social, economic and ecological crisis that until very recently received woefully inadequate attention from politicians and economists. Standing argues that the only way to stop and reverse the destruction and depletion of marine resources is to revive the ethos of the sea as a commons. A sea that belongs to everything and everybody, equally.
In 1833 British writer William Forster Lloyd conceptualised the economic theory ‘The tragedy of the commons’ which refers to a situation where individuals with access to a public resource 〔also called a common〕 act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource. The theory explains human individuals’ tendency to make decisions based on their personal needs, regardless of the negative impact it may have on others, both globally and over a longer period of time. For hundreds of years the tragedy of the commons has slowly creeped up on us with severe crises as a result. The disastrous human need to exploit Earth for personal profit was somehow not seen from a global perspective until the latter half of the 20th century. Now we sit with enormous issues of a climate crisis, economic crises, ecosystems falling apart and social inequalities to just name a few. To
avert a tragedy of the commons of our oceans we need to better understand these systems and we need to start managing and protecting the vulnerable seas.
Achieving a more just ocean economy may require a complete transformation of the blue growth paradigm. A paradigm connected to our ideas of infinite growth on land as well. We have finite natural resources that we need to deeply care for. Soil, minerals, forests, plants and animals are not to be taken for granted. But so isn’t water. Many believe that water scarcity could be the main cause of a potential next World War III. Fresh water is a finite resource, and as the demand for it increases, so does the competition for it. Many countries are already facing severe water shortages, and as climate change exacerbates the problem, these shortages will only get worse.
Capitalism, over-consumption, personal exploitation
and the idea that we can use the Earth just as we wish, are ideas we need to better understand collectively. What lies beyond ideas of infinite growth where monetary profits aren’t the only focus moving forward?
The freedom we feel when we’re embraced in water is a freedom we need to protect. The feeling when floating around in an open ocean is incomparable and one we need to fight for. It’s going to be an issue for governments and organisations to solve by working internationally on regulations and modern laws that will keep up to date with the needs of the Earth. Yet, solutions from large scale organisations are moving slowly and the need for individual participation is going to be crucial. We all know to not buy plastics, but are we all ready to stop flying, stop consuming and stop over using the planet? I would argue we’re not. But if you want to keep being in the sea, merged in the wonder of planetary life, you might need to rethink your relationship to Earth and the marks you might leave.
