Demystifying the Blue Economy: should we call Small Island Developing States “Big Ocean States” instead?

In recent years, the notion of the “Blue Economy” has gained traction in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) policy debates. Focusing on the often-enormous marine spaces encompassed in SIDS’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) – rather than their diminutive terrestrial landmasses – implies SIDS are really “large ocean states” rather than “small island states”. For proponents, the “Blue Economy” represents an entirely new way of thinking that offers a host of novel economic opportunities. For critics, it is little more than a buzzword that potentially “bluewashes” familiar forms of resource enclosure and extraction.

In this episode of "Small Islands Big Picture", Emily and Matt try to chart a path between these two positions, asking “What is new – and blue – about the Blue Economy discourse? Why have some SIDS and international organisations embraced it so enthusiastically? Are there dangers in advocating for and pursuing it? And how it might be deployed to generate wealth through conservation, rather than exploitation of oceanic resources?”.

In “Island Voices” we hear from Karuna Rana of the Big Ocean States Initiative in Mauritius who advocates using blue innovation to support community development. For our “Explainer”, Liam Saddington of Cambridge University demystifies the Blue Economy concept and discusses some of his research in the Seychelles. The “Big Picture” welcomes Nicole Leotaud from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) in Trinidad and Tobago to hear how civil society visions of socially and ecologically sound “blueing” are being advanced. Finally, in “No Stupid Questions”, Matt and Emily ask, “Is the Blue Economy really that novel, or just old wine in new bottles?”.

Featuring:

• Emily Wilkinson (host) | RESI Director and Principal Research Fellow at ODI
• Matthew Bishop (host) | RESI Director and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield
• Karuna Rana | Director, Big Ocean States Initiative (BOSI)
• Liam Saddington | Teaching Associate, University of Cambridge
• Nicole Leotaud | Director, Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI)

Resources:

• Programme page | Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI)
• Karuna’s Future Forum Paper | Closing the blue funding gap: How can SIDS mobilise a blue innovation fund for community development?
• Liam’s Geoforum Paper | Geopolitical imaginaries in climate and ocean governance: Seychelles and the Blue Economy
• CANARI’s SIDS4 Report | The Caribbean we want: Civil Society recommendations for transformative pathways to Caribbean sustainable development

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