Embracing Human Rights for a Sustainable Blue Economy

The ocean supports diverse cultural identities, livelihoods, and the well-being of billions of people by regulating the climate, providing food, and sustaining biodiversity. Yet, despite its importance, the ocean is under unprecedented threats, and its degradation has profound consequences for human rights.

The recent report by the Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable ocean highlights the urgent need to recognize blue issues as connected to human rights. The interdependence of the sea with human well-being makes a compelling case for integrated, ecosystem-based, and human rights-centered approaches to ocean governance.

For blue economy professionals, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity that demands adaptive, inclusive, and evidence-based strategies to safeguard the ocean and protect the rights of those who depend on it.

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Why the Ocean is a Human Rights Issue?

For millennia, human civilizations have relied on the ocean. Indigenous communities have long recognized its significance, calling it by names like moana, wardan, or maritorio—reflecting deep cultural, spiritual, geopolitical, and economic ties.

But the ocean is in crisis. The combined impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution—the so-called triple planetary crisis—are driving diverse impacts such as ocean acidification, deoxygenation, marine heat waves, and extreme weather events. This degradation disrupts ecosystems and directly threatens humans, who are highly dependent on the ocean. Those impacts affect the rights to life, health, food, water, and a sustainable environment. Socioeconomic losses from ocean mismanagement are estimated at nearly $1 trillion annually, hitting marginalized communities the hardest.

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The human drivers of ocean degradation have intensified with industrialization and extractive industries, disproportionately affecting mainly women, Indigenous Peoples, and communities marginalized by colonialism and unjust economic policies. These impacts highlight the need for a governance approach that prioritizes equity, non-discrimination, and environmental justice.

A Path Toward Integrated and Rights-Based Ocean Governance

To address these challenges, ocean management must adopt a holistic, coordinated, and ecosystem-based approach rooted in human rights principles. This includes ensuring effective access to correct information about the ocean, education on ocean themes, public participation, and access to justice.

This approach aligns with international commitments like the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly Goal 14), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and ongoing efforts to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. The success of these initiatives depends on the active involvement of diverse stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples, scientific communities, and civil society.

The Role of a Sustainable Blue Economy

The blue economy sector plays a critical role in this effort. Industries like fishing, aquaculture, tourism, and renewable energy have the potential to promote sustainable development practices, but they must prioritize environmental protection and human rights.

Too often, economic initiatives are considered over community well-being, leading to the erosion of customary rights. Fisher communities, for example, face dispossession and exploitation as many policies prioritize private interests. Meanwhile, blue finance mechanisms like loans and bonds for marine conservation often impose heavy debt burdens on developing nations, undermining their capacity to fulfill social and environmental rights.

A just and sustainable blue economy requires participatory decision-making and respect for traditional knowledge, ensuring that those who depend on the ocean have a voice in shaping its future.

Building a Future with Ocean Literacy

Safeguarding the ocean demands more than policy shifts—it requires a cultural transformation rooted in knowledge and positive action towards the ocean. Understanding the ocean’s ecological, social, and cultural significance empowers communities to advocate for their rights and fosters a sense of shared responsibility.

Children today will inherit a world where ocean health directly impacts their lives. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and shifting fish populations are not distant threats; they shape the present and future of millions of young people, particularly those in coastal and island communities. Despite this, many education systems fail to include the ocean in their curricula, leaving students unaware of how the marine environment sustains them and how they, in turn, can protect or defend it.

By incorporating ocean themes into education, we can empower children with the knowledge to understand complex themes that support systemic change. Schools must bring not only the science of ocean ecosystems but also the social and economic connections that tie human well-being to ocean health, as well the heritage aspects of a community with the ocean.

The Right to a Clean and Healthy Ocean

Just as clean air and safe drinking water are recognized as fundamental rights, so too should the right to a clean and healthy ocean. The ocean provides food, jobs, and cultural identity for billions of people. Yet, unchecked industrial activities, plastic pollution, and the climate crisis threaten marine ecosystems.

In some coastal regions, entire communities depend on fishing but lack access to data about declining fish stocks or water quality degradation. For example, artisanal fishers in West Africa struggle against overfishing by industrial fleets. Many have no scientific information or political power to advocate for sustainable practices. Without ocean literacy and transparency, these communities remain vulnerable, unable to defend their resources or their rights.

Integrating the Ocean into Education

The climate crisis cannot be tackled in isolation—our oceans, biodiversity, and pollution are interconnected. Education must reflect this reality. Currently, many school curricula discuss climate change in terms of greenhouse gases but fail to address the blue aspects of our planet. Themes such as ocean acidification, coral reef loss, and marine pollution are currently left behind as central issues in climate discussions.

To enhance knowledge quality on the topic, ocean literacy must be woven into education policies, ensuring that all young people understand the role of the ocean in climate stability. By fostering a generation that recognizes the urgency of ocean conservation, we create informed citizens who can drive change through science, activism, and policy.

Sources: https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/58/59 https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-06/UNDP-Ocean-Promise.pdf https://oneoceanhub.org/childrens-right-to-a-healthy-ocean/ Re-Imagining, C., & Literacies, O. (2023). Protecting Children's Rights to Development and. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS, 31, 941-975.