Pathways to a blue economy
Pathways to a blue economy
Charting a path to a blue economy is imperative to avoid major climate change and irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, the wider environment and society. The blue-ness of the future ocean economy and the associated health of the oceans and our planet will be determined by the pathways chosen, the strategies developed and decisions made now. Here, through bibliometric analysis, multidisciplinary literature review and data synthesis, we present prospective pathways that define different future ocean economies. The intention is to provoke interdisciplinary debate, exchange of ideas, further research and action towards shifting the ocean economy from grey to blue. We show that a business-as-usual pathway that sustains the current grey ocean economy will lead to accelerated violation of planetary boundaries and ultimately destruction of the natural capital on which the ocean economy and humanity depend; that a probable pathway, based on optimistic trends, which attempt to meet the conflicting increasing demand of populations globally and need to curb carbon emissions, is insufficient to meet decarbonisation and broader sustainability targets; and that a pathway to transition to a blue economy requires ambitious proactive strategies and immediate decisions, based on principles that aspire to the collaborative, fair and sustainable use of the ocean.
Gourvenec, Susan
6ff91ad8-1a91-42fe-a3f4-1b5d6f5ce0b8
Dbouk, Wassim
5027fe6d-3bbb-4ef0-9dbc-9e9650e73493
Sturt, Fraser
442e14e1-136f-4159-bd8e-b002bf6b95f6
Teagle, Damon A.H.
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
1 October 2025
Gourvenec, Susan
6ff91ad8-1a91-42fe-a3f4-1b5d6f5ce0b8
Dbouk, Wassim
5027fe6d-3bbb-4ef0-9dbc-9e9650e73493
Sturt, Fraser
442e14e1-136f-4159-bd8e-b002bf6b95f6
Teagle, Damon A.H.
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
Gourvenec, Susan, Dbouk, Wassim, Sturt, Fraser and Teagle, Damon A.H.
(2025)
Pathways to a blue economy.
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 77, [101570].
(doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2025.101570).
Abstract
Charting a path to a blue economy is imperative to avoid major climate change and irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, the wider environment and society. The blue-ness of the future ocean economy and the associated health of the oceans and our planet will be determined by the pathways chosen, the strategies developed and decisions made now. Here, through bibliometric analysis, multidisciplinary literature review and data synthesis, we present prospective pathways that define different future ocean economies. The intention is to provoke interdisciplinary debate, exchange of ideas, further research and action towards shifting the ocean economy from grey to blue. We show that a business-as-usual pathway that sustains the current grey ocean economy will lead to accelerated violation of planetary boundaries and ultimately destruction of the natural capital on which the ocean economy and humanity depend; that a probable pathway, based on optimistic trends, which attempt to meet the conflicting increasing demand of populations globally and need to curb carbon emissions, is insufficient to meet decarbonisation and broader sustainability targets; and that a pathway to transition to a blue economy requires ambitious proactive strategies and immediate decisions, based on principles that aspire to the collaborative, fair and sustainable use of the ocean.
Text
1-s2.0-S1877343525000636-main
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 10 September 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 October 2025
Published date: 1 October 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 508050
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508050
ISSN: 1877-3435
PURE UUID: 45ed7366-a5bc-46ea-a3ec-6cd13a58285c
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 12 Jan 2026 17:54
Last modified: 13 Jan 2026 03:02
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
