Martin Koehring 🌏 Global Blue Economy and Sustainability Expert | Ocean Futurist | Charity Board Trustee | TEDx Speaker

Innovation is at the heart of building a sustainable ocean economy

The ocean makes a significant and growing contribution to the world economy. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the size of the ocean economy was an estimated $1.5 trillion in 2010, equivalent to around 3% of global GDP. By 2030, the ocean’s contribution is forecast to double in size to $3 trillion (from 2010 levels). Innovation is crucial to both harness the opportunities a sustainable ocean economy can offer and address the risks that ocean degradation poses. Areas of particular promise for innovative solutions include ocean energy, the decarbonisation of shipping, aquaculture, ecosystem restoration and ‘blue carbon’, ocean geoengineering, and blue finance.

Read my full guest article for Innovation News Network.

More posts on the ocean economy:

Tags: aquaculture blue carbon blue finance BlueEconomy energy geoengineering innovation ocean shipping

Martin is a global ocean, climate and sustainability expert and futurist with 20+ years of experience. Currently, he is Director/Trustee at both the Marine Conservation Society, a leading ocean conservation charity in the UK, and the New Economics Foundation, a major sustainable-development think tank. He also serves as Ocean and Finance Specialist at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Previously, he was Senior Strategic Expert in Blue Economy at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Head of The Economist’s World Ocean Initiative, Practice Lead for Sustainability, Climate Change and Natural Resources at Economist Impact (The Economist Group), and Global Director of Impact at the leading international sustainability NGO Forum for the Future.

A prolific global speaker, Martin has chaired the World Ocean Summit and spoken at other major global ocean, climate and sustainability events such as the UN Ocean Conference, UN World Ocean Day, Our Ocean Conference, COP26/World Biodiversity Summit, Island Finance Forum, Virtual Island Summit, World Water Week, Blue Earth, edie, Climate Week NYC, London Climate Action Week, Economist Sustainability Week and the World Green Economy Summit. He has published widely on ocean and sustainability issues on Economist Group platforms and in other reputable outlets such as UN Today, BusinessGreen, the T20 compendium for India’s G20 presidency and the Ocean Yearbook.

Martin is known for accelerating the growth and impact of the World Ocean Initiative, helping to establish Economist Impact’s Sustainability Project (winner of a Webby Award for “Best Writing – Editorial”), serving as project director for the award-winning Food Sustainability Index, and giving a TEDx talk on “How a just & regenerative mindset can help us navigate the polycrisis”.

Martin is available for consulting and speaking opportunities.

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