Blue Economy of the Arctic: China's Involvement in Establishing the International Agenda

Introduction

The blue economy concept has been increasingly gaining attention in both the international agenda and the national development strategies. It has emerged from the broader understanding of the green economy to address contemporary challenges and the development prospects of various kinds of marine activities (Kolesnikova, 2018). On the international level, the principles of the green economy were first defined at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The green growth approach (defined as the mainstream development of the modern world) aims to spur economic development and eliminate poverty and social equity while maintaining ecological balance (Steblyanskaya et al., 2021). Being an integral part of the green growth model, the blue economy acts as a basis for sustainable development by conceptualizing the oceans as “development spaces” (World Bank & United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2017). It provides economic activities that are in balance with the long-term ability of ocean ecosystems to sustain these activities. Thus, the blue economy concept assumes the creation of conditions for economic growth and improving the quality of life of people while preserving the environment.

The evolution and contemporary development of the blue economy concept (further detailed in the Background section) reflect the recognition of the exceptional role of oceans, seas, rivers, and water-related industries in general in the global economy. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (2021) estimates the global value of oceans at $24 trillion – a combined value of fishing, cargo and passenger traffic, offshore and deep-sea drilling and mining, jobs created in coastal communities, etc. The market value of marine and coastal resources is estimated at 5% of global GDP, while marine-related activities employ hundreds of millions of people around the world (United Nations, 2021a). Oceans provide people with enormous opportunities and abundant resources for green (or blue, in this case) development, including renewable energy (wave energy, tidal energy, offshore wind energy, marine solar energy, marine bioenergy) and marine biotechnologies (new pharmaceuticals, medicines, cosmetics, feed additives for agricultural animals) that allow for reducing methane and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Also, oceans generate oxygen, absorb greenhouse gases, and determine weather patterns and temperatures (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], 2021), which all relate to one of the most urgent problems the world is facing today – climate change.

On the one hand, oceans and seas play a fundamental role in mitigating climate change by capturing carbon and extra heat (The Ocean Foundation, 2021). On the other hand, in recent decades, the changes in oceans have been contributing to climate warming through increases in sea temperatures, salinity, and upwelling of surface and deeper waters (Lewis-Brown et al., 2008). According to Poloczanska et al. (2013), since the early 2000s, there have been widespread systemic shifts in marine ecosystems. 57% of the fish stocks of the world’s oceans are exhausted, while another 30% are being depleted. 80% of the sea and coastal areas' pollution comes from land. The waters are polluted by untreated sewage, plastic waste, pesticides, and agricultural runoff. Annually, up to 12 million tons of plastic enter the oceans. 89% of the plastic garbage found in the ocean is made up of disposable plastic items, primarily plastic bags. Thus, being one of the most powerful tools to combat climate change, the global ocean is experiencing the increasing burden of climate change effects in such forms as species migration, lower levels of oxygen in water, increases in water temperatures and frequency of marine heatwaves, coral bleaching, and overall loss of marine biodiversity (McCauley et al., 2015; Breitburg et al., 2018; Hughes et al., 2018; Pinsky et al., 2019; Schartup et al., 2019; Smale et al., 2019).