I recently found an interesting article called Blue Growth and Blue Justice that examines the social justice implications of the rapid and unchecked development of ocean resources. The article highlights ten injustices that can be produced by blue growth: (1) dispossession, displacement, and ocean grabbing; (2) environmental justice concerns from pollution and waste; (3) environmental degradation and reduction of availability of ecosystem services; (4) undermining livelihoods of small-scale fishers; (5) undermining access to marine resources needed for food security and well-being; (6) inequitable distribution of economic benefits; (7) social and cultural impacts; (8) marginalization of women, (9) human and Indigenous rights abuses; and, (10) exclusion from decision-making and governance.
The authors’ aim was to stimulate a rigorous dialogue on how to achieve a more just and inclusive ocean economy, and they concluded that a commitment to ‘blue justice’-including recognitional, procedural, and distributional concerns-needs to be at the core of the blue growth agenda. They conclude that achieving a more just ocean economy may require a complete rethinking or transformation of the blue growth paradigm.