Experts place emphasis on ‘resilient blue economy’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM M. Ravichandran, faculty at School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, on Friday underscored the need to build upon the concept of a ‘resilient blue economy’ for sustainable growth from India’s seas. Dr. Ravichandran was addressing a special session on ‘Blue economy and advances in deep ocean research’ at the 92nd annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc) which opened at the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday.

According to him, a ‘resilient blue economy’ sits where sustainable use, resilient assets, hazard mitigation and nature-based protection meet. A resilient blue economy has to address climatic and non-climatic challenges and natural hazards simultaneously and close gaps. Resource mapping Climatic stresses include sea-level rise, coastal erosion, ocean warming and mangrove losses. Non-climatic include range from oil spills to marine pollution.

Cyclones, tsunamis, coastal flooding and storm surges form challenges in the natural hazards category. Dr.