Cleantech Group’s baseline examine of the worldwide blue economic system innovation ecosystem first sought to clarify what the blue economic system is in a cleantech context, after which to research the demand pull, provide of innovation, funding, and expertise tendencies. The purpose is to in the end determine alternatives, challenges, and gaps to realize systemic change.
The oceans are important to our planetary well being, society, and economic system. The annual gross marine product of the oceans is estimated to be $2.5T per yr. Nonetheless, over exploitation, air pollution, and local weather change are severely damaging the ocean which may price us $428B yearly by 2050 and trigger irrevocable harm or extinction to wildlife. With industries equivalent to delivery and fish protein solely anticipated to develop, now could be the time to make sure improvement within the ocean is sustainable.
The ocean is our biggest ally in opposition to local weather change, having absorbed round 25% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions for the reason that Industrial Revolution and continues to have huge potential for seize and storage. The Excessive-Stage Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economic system estimates that the ocean economic system can ship 21% of the greenhouse fuel emission reductions wanted to fulfill the Paris Settlement goal of limiting the typical world temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2050.
What’s the Blue Economic system?
The blue economic system represents all industries depending on or impacting our oceans. This encompasses modern applied sciences that cut back, monitor, forestall, or regenerate environmental harm. Within the context of cleantech, these applied sciences embrace:
Extract Sources
Desalination, hydrogen, floating photo voltaic, wind, hydro & marine, operations & upkeep, power storage
Harvest Life
Various proteins, aquaculture, algae & seaweed, fishing
Preserve & Restore
Blue carbon, nature restoration, resilient infrastructure, waste assortment, plastics recycling, bioplastics & wastewater remedy
Monitor
Local weather threat, ocean surroundings monitoring, nature monitoring, and ocean automobiles
Transportation & Commerce
Gasoline-efficient and electrical vessels, delivery fuels, ports, fleet administration, provide chain and logistics optimization, and anti-fouling
Innovation will play a key function in enabling sustainability and restoration in our oceans, with applied sciences equivalent to new maritime fuels the important thing to unlocking maritime decarbonization. The event of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) applied sciences would be the main enabler for ocean carbon or nature restoration credit. Nonetheless, the blue economic system expertise sector has been underfunded with VC funding representing solely 4% of all VC cleantech investments (January 2019 – Might 2024).
Funding is now shifting out of philanthropy and attracting VC and CVC {dollars}, with devoted capital, funds, traders, and accelerator applications for ocean expertise innovators rising in quantity. Nonetheless, many conventional VCs are cautious as a consequence of lack of know-how and insular and conventional incumbent industries.
There are sturdy drivers growing for incumbent industries. Catalysed by laws, company pioneers in maritime delivery have a restricted window to capitalize decarbonization alternatives in new maritime gasoline and electrical vessels. Key sectors equivalent to offshore renewables, aquaculture, and plastics recycling are scaling quickly, supported by confirmed and resilient enterprise fashions.
New markets are being created in monitoring, enhancing the security and longevity of offshore and coastal property. The enterprise circumstances for rising high-impact sectors like blue carbon and nature restoration are bettering, though they nonetheless encounter difficult market situations and vital obstacles to entry (e.g., certification, frameworks, and MRV for brand new offset undertaking sorts).
Main ecosystems in North America, Norway, Spain, France, Australia, and the UK are poised to be world hubs for ocean innovation, benefitting from ESOs networks, advertising and marketing, and funding.
These industries and rising markets will proceed to develop, however sustaining ocean ecosystem providers and realizing decarbonization and restoration potentials depend on sustained monetary assist from traders, piloting and scaling partnerships from incumbents, and ratcheting decarbonization and ocean safety laws from governments.
This report serves as the primary in a sequence of in-depth analyses exploring the start-ups, traders, nations, and firms which are shaping the sustainable blue economic system globally. The following levels will construct on the above to in the end determine alternatives, challenges, and gaps to realize systemic change. If you need to have entry to this or to be included within the analysis please attain out to Holly Stower, who leads our Blue Economic system analysis.