Coastal communities, blue economy and the climate crisis: Framing just disruptions

Abstract

AbstractCurrent framing of the blue economy is problematic and deficient in a number of key aspects, specifically in terms of how resilience and justice are currently understood and applied in blue economy discourse. A more holistic and comprehensive understanding and framing of what a sustainable blue economy is, is required to avoid perpetuation of the ecological and social problems of conventional economic growth. New understandings of blue economy which place justice, resilience, and sustainability centrally are required if the blue economy concept is to retain credibility in the context of ongoing climate disruptions, socio‐economic challenges, and the progressive degradation of coastal ecosystems. The blue economy needs to represent a practical, real‐world solution to these issues for coastal communities striving for sustainability. While ideas of ‘just transition’ have been afforded considerable attention in the literature, here the argument is forwarded for a ‘just disruptions’ approach, underpinned by presentation of a novel framework. The ‘just disruptions’ framework posits that rights‐based and capabilities‐based approaches to justice, including principles of distributive and procedural justice, be applied to inform adaptive and resilience focused responses in coastal zones. Applying these principles in practice, the realities of space, place, scale, and power relations need to be acknowledged and more deliberately considered. Such a framing is urgently required to firmly ground debates on blue growth and blue economy in the imperatives of resilience, and social and ecological sustainability.