Blue finance

opportunities for the blue economy

Abstract

The basic characteristics and limitations of different types
of Blue Finance are analyzed in this paper. Ocean-based
productive activities make a fundamental contribution
to the global economy. They are an economic pillar of
many countries. These activities - fishing, aquaculture,
maritime transport, coastal and marine tourism, explora-
tion and production of oil and gas, among others – have,
however, negative effects on coastal and marine ecosys-
tems. Thus, it has become necessary to look through a
different focus these economic activities. The Blue Eco-
nomy represents this new approach. It contemplates the
carrying out of economic activities based upon the oceans
in a sustainable way, ensuring economic efficiency, with
social inclusion and the maintenance of the health of the
coastal and marine ecosystems. Nevertheless, the transi-
tion to the Blue Economy requires funding contributions,
included into the Blue Finance. Under this perspective,
different actions in sectors of the ocean-based economy
require investments. They will vary from alternatives pri-
marily aimed at environmental and social outcomes to
those directed to an environmental performance combi-
ned with financial returns. In order to guide the allo-
cation of resources under the Blue Finance, a series of
principles have been developed to motivate investors to
support projects suitable for a Blue Economy perspective.
However, there is a limited number of studies evaluating
these principles and actual experiments of Blue Finance.
This paper contributes to reduce this gap in current kno-
wledge, highlighting potentiality and constraints of al-
ternatives financial instruments. Our analysis shows that
we still have a long journey towards the establishment of
a solid Blue Finance arrangement towards a sustainable
use of our oceans.