The ocean is a crucial part of the sustainable development puzzle. For many developing countries, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the ocean represents opportunities, ranging from livelihood provision to economic diversification to decarbonisation. At the same time, it is a source of risks and vulnerabilities, such as sea-level rise and remoteness, that can undermine human welfare. Ocean health itself is also at risk, particularly from the impacts of climate change. This makes support for ocean priorities part and parcel of development co-operation efforts. However, estimates have shown that ocean-related development assistance is small in volume, heavily concentrated in certain sectors, and not entirely sustainable. This guidance presents solutions to redress these trends. A first of its kind, this guidance provides a comprehensive and cross-cutting set of recommendations on how development co-operation providers can support partner countries in transitioning to a sustainable ocean economy. In doing so, it functions as a reference tool for development co-operation providers in channelling their increasingly limited development assistance effectively and efficiently.
Promoting Sustainable Ocean Economies
Abstract
Executive Summary
Based on an extensive review of good practices and lessons learned, the guidance presents recommendations that clarify the aims, modalities and enablers of effective development co-operation in support of a sustainable ocean economy.
A shared understanding of what a sustainable ocean economy constitutes is critical to ensure that development co-operation works towards common goals. However, the current use of different terms, conveying different underlying policy objectives creates confusion. While previous OECD work has pointed to sustainable resource use and conservation as the hallmark of a sustainable ocean economy, it has not provided a common framework to guide intended outcomes, or goals, of development co-operation in the ocean space. To fill this gap, this guidance recommends that development co-operation providers:
Anchor co-operation on the economic, social and environmental pillars of a sustainable ocean economy, by promoting the goals of ocean-based economic development and resilience, ocean equity, healthy marine and coastal ecosystems, and ocean-based climate action.
Promote coherence across these goals, by seeking synergies and mitigating tensions, identifying activities that are severely harmful to any single goal, and considering linkages between the ocean and broader sustainable development issues.
Reflect country contexts, by aligning the pursuit of these goals to individual country priorities, as reflected in their ocean or other cross-cutting policies.
Managing the multiple uses of the ocean is indispensable for pursuing the various pillars of a sustainable ocean economy in a coherent manner. However, in most countries, integrated approaches to ocean management are nascent: fragmented ocean governance remains the rule and could be exacerbated by the rapid growth of the global ocean economy and increasing pressures on the ocean. To address these challenges, the guidance recommends that development co-operation providers:
Support the creation of a harmonised ocean policy framework in partner countries, by equipping them to craft a vision and strategy for their ocean economy and promoting integration across different ocean-related policies and plans.
Help lay the groundwork for the effective implementation of these frameworks, by supporting the development of specific ocean management tools, helping design inclusive coordination mechanisms and facilitating monitoring and evaluation.
Strengthen policy and institutional integration at the provider level, among individual providers’ agencies as well as among different providers.
Despite the benefits of investing in a sustainable ocean economy, current estimates suggest a sizeable funding gap. This is driven by macroeconomic challenges (e.g. debt vulnerability) that constrain public finance, as well as project-level financial and non-financial barriers that increase perceived or actual risks. Shortfalls in funding are exacerbated by the low volumes of ODA targeting the sustainable ocean economy. To redress these trends, the guidance recommends that development co-operation providers:
Ensure balanced ODA allocations across countries and sectors, improve the predictability of ocean-related ODA and leverage it to meet agreed-upon global commitments.
Use ODA to unlock public and private finance, focusing on building partnerships across the broad range of ocean finance actors.
Support diverse ocean-related financial instruments and mechanisms (e.g. blue bonds, novel insurance schemes, debt-for-nature swaps), bearing in mind their specific uses, requirements, and challenges.
Capacity constraints are a key bottleneck for sustainable development efforts in many developing countries, aggravated by the novelty, vastness and rapid pace of change in the ocean economy. Therefore, the guidance recommends that development co-operation providers:
Root capacity development efforts in the broad range of capacity needs, including technology- and data-related, recognising their cross-sectoral and country-specific nature.
Take a long-term view, by building capacity to meet global commitments and transformations and adapting programming to deliver long-term results.
Accelerate capacity development through partnerships, including by incorporating traditional knowledge, leveraging science and knowledge networks and pooling capacities.
The ocean is a transnational resource, making global coordination and coherence paramount. However, there are gaps in existing arrangements to govern and finance the ocean as a global public good and common pool resource. While recent developments raise optimism, such as the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, they have not yet come into force. At the same time, developing countries have historically not been well integrated into global ocean processes. To promote global coherence, the guidance recommends that development co-operation providers:
Support cross-border institutions and mechanisms, including the conclusion of the BBNJ Agreement and regional structures for marine conservation, and ensure developing country participation in international processes.
Contribute to the integration of the global ocean finance architecture, by harmonising existing standards, supporting policy discussions to finance the ocean as a global public good while managing risks of further fragmentation, and considering coordination mechanisms for the ocean finance system
Account for the transnational spillovers of domestic policies, by scaling back harmful subsidies and using domestic policy levers and other multilateral fora to promote a shift to a sustainable ocean economy.
