OCEAN RISKS REPORTS KEY MESSAGES

This executive summary synthesises three reports from the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) regarding the 'Blue Acceleration'—the rapid expansion of ocean-based industries. It highlights the systemic inequities of this growth, noting that benefits primarily flow to powerful states and corporations while Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face disproportionate risks. The document emphasizes the need for multidimensional risk assessments, the integration of local and indigenous knowledge, and gender-transformative approaches to ensure an equitable and resilient ocean economy.

• The 'Blue Acceleration' describes an unprecedented expansion of ocean-based industries since 2000, characterized by exponential growth in sectors such as aquaculture, offshore wind energy, and deep-sea mining. Specific indicators include a five hundred-fold increase in offshore wind energy capacity, the registration of over 13,000 marine genetic sequences in patents, and the leasing of an area of the ocean floor for deep-sea mining equivalent in size to Peru.
• Economic benefits from the Blue Acceleration are unevenly distributed, favoring a small number of corporations and powerful nations. More than half of the revenues from the 100 largest corporate beneficiaries of ocean use are concentrated in seven countries: the USA, Saudi Arabia, China, Norway, France, the UK, and South Korea. Conversely, SIDS and LDCs are largely excluded from these benefits; for example, they account for only 0.09% of global aquaculture production and none of the countries with installed offshore wind capacity are SIDS or LDCs.
• SIDS and LDCs face unique vulnerabilities to 'stranded ocean assets' and 'stranded resources.' Because they are often 'latecomers' to ocean industrialization, they risk losing opportunities to exploit their own resources or becoming the recipients of obsolete technologies no longer desired by early adopters.
• Ocean risks for coastal communities in SIDS and LDCs are 'coupled complex risks' that intersect across environmental, socioeconomic, and geopolitical dimensions. For instance, sea level rise and ocean warming often occur simultaneously, and the impacts of climate events are exacerbated by global hyperconnectivity, which allows pandemics and financial crises to propagate more rapidly.
• Building resilience in SIDS and LDCs requires a combination of strengthening domestic scientific and technical capacities and integrating local indigenous and ecological knowledge, which is currently often neglected in decision-making processes.
• Gender-based inequalities significantly impact ocean risk and resilience. Women are often undervalued and confined to specific roles in fisheries and tourism. The document calls for the systematic collection of sex-disaggregated data and the adoption of 'gender transformative approaches' that engage both men and women to shift harmful social norms and structural barriers that privilege men.
• Sustainable ocean finance is currently insufficient and lacks a focus on equity. Less than 1% of the total value of the ocean economy has been invested in sustainable projects via official development assistance and philanthropy over the last 10 years. The report suggests that the 14 Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles should be updated to explicitly mandate equity considerations and reference SDG 5 (Gender equality).

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (n.d.). OCEAN RISKS REPORTS KEY MESSAGES. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ocean-risks-reports-key-messages.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. OCEAN RISKS REPORTS KEY MESSAGES. n.d. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ocean-risks-reports-key-messages.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=OCEAN RISKS REPORTS KEY MESSAGES |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ocean-risks-reports-key-messages.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnershipndocean, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{OCEAN RISKS REPORTS KEY MESSAGES}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ocean-risks-reports-key-messages.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }