The Nairobi Convention Contracting Parties adopted decision CP9/10.1 at the Ninth Conference of Parties (COP 9) held in Kenya in August 2018 and agreed to advance Blue /Ocean economy approaches in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 14 as pathways for sustained incomes and economic benefits from natural blue capital including fisheries, tourism, oil and gas development, renewable energy, and other maritime activities. Further to COP 9, the Government of Kenya hosted the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC) in November 2018. In the Nairobi Statement of Intent on Advancing the Global Sustainable Blue Economy, the outcome document of the SBEC, countries charted a new paradigm for an economically vibrant, socially inclusive and environmentally resilient blue/ocean economy.
Hot on the heels of the conference was the covid-19 pandemic which negatively impacted and is impacting all the economic sectors, including the blue economy sectors such as; ports, harbours and maritime transport; coastal and deep-sea fisheries, aquaculture and mariculture; coastal and marine tourism; coastal and offshore mining and extractives; coastal offshore oil and gas, renewable energy; and, coastal agriculture and forestry. These impacts include but not limited to disruption of supply, limited access to ports and closures, falling demand, increased number of sanitary and regulatory measures, declined landed fish, and general disruption of economic activities leading to job losses and poverty. These disruptions and impacts varied depending on the affected sectors and affected the subsector players differently.
To understand the social, economic and other impacts of the pandemic on specific sectors, and the whole blue economy, it is critical to highlight the main areas and the magnitude of the impacts, the losses caused, possible remedial measures to be undertaken in the short and long run, and also preventive measures to be adopted in case this or similar pandemics were to occur in the future. To this end, CASELAP is organizing a seminar on the impact of Covid-19 on the Kenyan blue economy to discuss the impacts and the way forward for the ocean sectors, especially in situations of pandemics. This discussion is taking place against the background of Kenya’s efforts to develop a Blue Economy Policy, the commencement of the Oceans Decade and other initiatives such as the 10 billion Kenya Marine Fisheries Socio-Economic Development Project launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta a few years ago.
