On the eve of One Ocean Conference 2025 in June, the UN Trade and Development Agency, UnconteadHe emphasized that the oceans are essential for life, supporting biodiversity, regulating the climate and generating oxygen.
Oceans also have unexplored economic potential, capable of providing food security, creating jobs and boosting global trade.
“The amount of exports of oceanic goods and services reached US $ 2.2 trillion in 2023, so it is growing very fast.” said David Vivas, Uncontead Head of commerce, environment and sustainable development, on the sidelines of the 5th UN Ocean Forum in Geneva.
According to the UN agency, Ocean economies in the world have grown 250 % since 1995Overcoming the global economy, which grew 190 % in the same period.
Increasing potential tide
Behind this growth is the growth of South-South trade, where fresh fish exports increased 43 %; Processed fish exports increased by an impressive 89 % from 2021 to 2023.
Today, 600 million people are supported and therefore depend only on the fishing industry, most of them in developing countries.
According to UNCTAD, two thirds of species living in the ocean have not yet been identified, offering the potential for the discovery of new antibiotics, low carbon foods and other biological materials, such as plastic substitutes, which only offer a market opportunity of $ 10.8 billion.
In 2025, the marine biotechnology market is expected to grow more than 50 % this year, compared to 2023.
Marine herbs, which have evolved more than 70 million years behind the land grass, are one of the most valuable marine ecosystems on the planet.
Imminent dangers
However, despite this potential, the ocean economy faces imminent threats of malaise, sub -timing and climate shocks.
This includes our heated oceans, increasing sea level and extreme climate risks that endanger marine ecosystems, fish populations, coastal infrastructure and remittance routes, especially for coastal communities.
And although most national climate plans do not take into account the ocean economy, Mr. Vivas da UnVA stressed its importance in achieving the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement as It is estimated that 11 % of all emissions worldwide are caused by ocean-based activities.
Ocean
In addition to climate -related impacts, unfortunate ocean preservation and harmful practices further threaten industry.
“While oceans represent 70 % of the biosphere, less than one percent of global development assistance is invested in their conservation and sustainable use,” Vivas told journalists in Geneva.
Achieving the sustainable development target universally agreed 14 to protect life below water requires $ 175 billion annually, but only $ 4 billion have been contributed from national funds, philanthropists and private investments, making it a sustainability objective (SDG).
The sum “is nothing less than peanuts; Basically, politicians are not putting their money where their mouths are, ” Vivas said. “This large part of the planet is totally invisible in terms of sustainable use for future generations.”
This is heavily contrasts with $ 22 billion invested in harmful subsidies in the global fishing industry, which contributes to overfish.
Additional obstacles that limit the potential of the marine economy involve extraordinarily high rates among developing countries. While high -income countries apply 3.2 % rates in fish products, developing countries apply an average of 14 % of tariffs, greatly reducing trade.
The shrimp shrimp farm in chief shrimp, Cape Verde, aligns with the objectives of promoting sustainable agriculture and fishing.
Driven by innovation
Among the UN agencies that ask for action, UNCTAD recommends:
- Integration of ocean -based sectors in national climate and biodiversity plans
- REDUCING COMMERCIAL BARRIES
- Expanding the collection of data on emissions related to ocean, trade and investment
- ending harmful subsidies
- Finalizing legally linked treaties on plastic pollution
To drive urgent progress, the UN Oceanic Forum will launch initiatives that include a renewed oceanic trade database to help analyze the rapidly evolving sector, a proposal for a UN task force in marine algae development and an evidence-based oceanic climate action project.
The last, involving UNCTAD and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN (Bare), uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data innovations to support the developing states of the small Caribbean island in particular.
