DOI: 10.52340/ekonomisti.2026.01.11

Extensive Summary

The worlds oceans, seas and water resources are vital carriers, providing shelter and food for billions of people. The energy of water flows has been used by mankind since ancient times. In ancient Greece, in the 1st century BC, the Greeks used a water wheel to grind wheat. The ocean provides people with extraordinary opportunities and resources. The worlds oceans are an important sector of economic development, because it is not only a source of water reserves and resources: the ocean floor is covered with a variety of plants and other living organisms and contains unique minerals, but thousands of kilometers of cables and other communication infrastructure are laid through the seas and oceans. 95% of telecommunications in the world are provided by submarine cables. In addition, more than 30% of the worlds oil and gas production occurs offshore.

The worlds oceans represent a potentially profitable and very important segment of the world economy. It is worth noting among them:

• Sea plants in the world\\\'s oceans absorb 30% of the planet\\\'s CO2;

• Oceans and seas provide 10-12% of Earth\\\'s food;

• The largest protein resource in the world is the oceans, on which the health of the more than 3 billion people who live in the so-called oceans depends. in coastal areas.

• The value of all resources of the world ocean is about 15.24 trillion US dollars;

• 90% of goods are transported by water;

• The worlds oceans absorb 99% of excess heat and 23% of carbon dioxide released as a result of human activity.

• Life and work of more than 3 billion people. (almost half of our planets population) depends on the biological diversity of marine and coastal zones.

• The market value associated with marine resources and industry is estimated at 5% of global GDP.

• Marine fisheries provide employment to more than 200 million people, etc.

The asset on which the ocean economy is based is estimated at $24 trillion.

All economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts, covering a wide range of interrelated and developing sectors, are defined by the European Commission as the blue economy.

The term "blue economy" was first used in 2004 by Belgian entrepreneur and economist Gunter Pauli in his book "Blue Economy 3.0". In the paper, he calls for new economic initiatives by people and states to change the way we deal with water and water-related problems. He presented a report to the Club of Rome in 2009 entitled "The Blue Economy: 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs". Pauli presented a package of bold solutions to global problems, inspired by the fact that nature can solve any problem, and it has proven this throughout its evolutionary path.

Gunther Pauli introduced the concept of "circular economy", where the linear movement of production is replaced by a circular one. If the economy works according to this principle, then all the resources that are not needed in one process will be absorbed by another process. This concept is based on the fact that there is practically no waste in nature and any by-product can become a resource for another product.

According to Pauli, the "blue economy" mainly bears fruit in developing countries, where more than 200 implemented projects have created up to 3 million jobs in about 5-6 years. The report sparked enthusiasm among club members, and Pauli\\\'s ideas were later used as the basis for the book \\\`"Blue Economy", which was published in 2010, became very popular and was translated into more than 40 languages.

It is true that the concept of "blue" economy is relatively new in Europe and it is officially used on the European continent after the 2012 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, but the study of maritime economy as an important problem started relatively early. It is worth noting such a program as "Euro-Argo". This is an international program that measures water properties using a fleet of robotic instruments moving along with ocean currents. This program was started in 1999 as a pilot project. Thanks to the international cooperation of more than 25 countries, the first observation network in the history of oceanography was created in 2001. In 2008, 12 European countries united within the framework of the "Euro-Argo" project.

 In addition, one of the most complete sources of data on the European continent in the field of "blue" economy is the EU\\\'s Copernicus program, which has been operating since 2008.

To date, the European Union has developed a number of key documents that directly or indirectly determine the development of the maritime sector. First of all, these are:

Water Framework Directive (2000), which aims to ensure the good status of surface and groundwater of the European Union by 2027;

- Bathing Water Directive (2006) - refers to natural and artificial reservoirs of water suitable for bathing (lakes, artificial seas, ponds) and which defines the rules for monitoring and classifying the quality of this water;

- Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008), which is one of the most important documents in the field of marine environmental policy of the European Union (today it is in the process of updating and correction);

- A package of documents defining the development of a unified fisheries policy (its provisions were reformed in 2013);

- Directive on the development of maritime spatial planning (2014) (up to 40 countries are currently involved in maritime spatial planning);

- Directive on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products (2019) (another point of tension is plastic waste, which inevitably ends up in the world\\\'s oceans: 8-10 million tons annually, that is 80% of sea pollution);

- Circular Economy Development Action Plan (2020);

- Communication on new approaches to sustainable blue economy (2021), etc.

In addition, the European Union actively promotes various thematic formats of international cooperation. In particular, the relationship is growing not only between EU member states, but also with other states and international organizations that are related to the regulation of the maritime sector in one way or another. Particular attention is paid to sectors that create jobs and have a high rate of innovation. In particular, aquaculture, blue energy, blue biotechnologies, "blue" tourism, etc. "Blue" tourism is the largest market sector of the global economy and accounts for 5% of the world\\\'s gross domestic product, is characterized by a high employment rate and is characterized by a positive increase in added value. The complete source of data on aquaculture is the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA), which was created on the initiative of the European Commission, and its database includes quantitative indicators of 108 main commercial species and 12 commodity groups by country and year.

Based on all of the above, efforts to save the oceans have gained enormous importance in recent years, the effects of which are increasing under conditions of global integration. Currently, the UN Global Agreement to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is in force, within the framework of which the creation of a coalition to protect the world\\\'s oceans began in 2019.

It should be noted that the European Union often acts as the initiator and coordinator of these processes. For example, on June 16, 2023, the European Commission launched a partnership program for the energy sector with the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Thus, the "blue" economy and its implementation as an active economic policy is a challenge for the whole world. Discussions, workshops and the development of action plans (economic steps, environmental measures, innovative approaches, legislative support) are currently actively underway in order to perfect the concept of an inclusive, circular "blue" economy under the conditions of sustainable development, both for the world and, in particular, for the EU member states. The main driving resource of the "blue" economy is the ocean, sea and water resources in general. That is why it is important to take care of water resources, system monitoring and create the necessary mechanism for this. This will be a real basis for sustainable economic policy, which is the most important task for the progress of the world economy.