Climate change and the blue economy: a sustainable and equitable blue economy can support climate action

Key messages

• Climate change is already having wide-ranging and severe negative impacts on crucial sectors of the blue economy — fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism.
• Small-scale fishers, fish farmers and fish workers are the largest group of people in the blue economy and hold substantial local and traditional knowledge. They are also some of the most exposed to climate hazards and often lack capacity to respond to them.
• The blue economy can play a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Nature-based solutions, particularly blue carbon solutions, can contribute to both mitigation and adaptation while offering a range of other co-benefits for people, nature and climate.
• For transformative action on climate and ocean change, social sustainability and equity must be at the heart of climate action and the blue economy, and small-scale actors must be involved in decision-making and planning