‘Blue Economy’ declaration provides sustainable development roadmap |01 February 2014

Seychelles has drafted a Blue Economy Declaration on the recommendation of delegates present during the recent Blue Economy Summit it co-hosted with the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.

The summit was held on January 19-20 on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

Heads of state and government and high-level representatives agreed on a declaration from the meeting pertaining and in preparation for the third international conference on Small island developing states (Sids) in Apia, Samoa in September 2014.

They discussed how to use and implement the ‘Blue Economy’ as a tool to enable the transition of development models for island and coastal States towards sustainable development.

The consensus was that the ‘Blue Economy’ would support the Green Economy and would add to the principles established at the Rio+20 Summit.

The delegates were also in agreement that the ‘Blue Economy’ should be regarded as a tool that offers specific mechanisms for Sids and coastal countries to address their sustainable development challenges. The declaration also emphasises the importance of the ‘Blue Economy’ towards the adoption of sustainable development goals which will succeed the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).

It was stressed that the ‘Blue Economy’ can work towards the alleviation of hunger, poverty eradication, creation of sustainable livelihoods, disaster risk reduction in coastal areas and the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.