Chapter 2: State and Trends
fish protein supply by the 2050s (Lam et al. 2012), resulting in a 21 per cent drop in annual landed value, a 50 per cent decline in fisheries jobs and a total annual loss of USD 311 million to the regional economy. In South Africa, cooling rather than warming trends have been observed in offshore sea surface temperatures, with associated retraction of warm water species (Mead et al. 2013; Blamey et al. 2015) (More...19).
2.3.7 Blue economy The blue economy plays a central role for coastal countries and island nations. For example, the six African small- island developing states of Cabo Verde, Comoros, Guinea- Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe and Seychelles are all highly dependent on blue economy sectors, and this represents both challenges and great potential. Fish exports are of particular importance to Seychelles, Cabo Verde and Mauritius, respectively representing 52 per cent, 43 per cent and 15 per cent of their total exports (UNECA 2014). Tourism makes a direct and indirect contribution to the GDP of Africa’s island nations. Cabo Verde and Seychelles are particularly dependent on the tourism industry, with indirect contributions as high as 43 per cent in Cabo Verde and 57 per cent in Seychelles (UNECA 2014).
Africa’s small island states are dependent on fossil fuels, and most of them spend at least 30 per cent of their annual foreign exchange earnings on oil imports while their vast renewable energy resources remain undeveloped (UNECA 2014). Currently they do not produce natural gas or oil, though favourable geological conditions suggest that oil and gas reserves may be found in the ocean around the islands. The territorial waters of Sao Tome and Principe, for example, are reported to hold exploitable reserves of oil and gas (UNECA 2014; PWC 2014). Massive gas finds have been made in the waters off Mozambique and Tanzania, while in 2012 Comoros granted its first licence for oil exploration and production (UNECA 2014).
The extraction of diamonds and metals, including gold and tin, from placer deposits in marine sediments and materials such as aggregates for construction and land reclamation
have mostly taken place in near-shore areas (UNECA 2014). The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA 2014) indicated that the small-island developing states are believed to have placer minerals along the coasts, phosphorites on the shelf, cobalt-rich crusts on the seamounts, massive sulphide deposits on the mid-oceanic ridges, and polymetallic nodules (ferromanganese nodules) on the deep abyssal seafloor. Exploration of seabed mineral availability has only seriously taken place in Mauritius and Seychelles and has not resulted in commercially viable production. Polymetallic nodules and polymetallic massive sulphides are the two mineral resources of primary interest to developers in the Indian Ocean (UNECA 2014).
Renewable blue energy from wind, solar, geothermal and ocean energy are a viable solution for island nations wishing to meet growing demand.
According to UNEP (2013),
investments in the green economy simulated in the South African Green Economy Model positively contribute to additional restored land without leading to a reduction in land requirements in the agriculture sector. The simulated scenario reveals an additional 46.4 per cent of restored land by 2030 and higher water availability. The carbon tax proposed in South Africa (Republic of South Africa 2013) will have a unique attribute in that it makes provision for the use of offsets to mitigate the tax liability of greenhouse gas emitters in the country. Through the Mikoko Pamoja project (Plan Vivo 2010), forest protection and planting activities helped to increase the quality and extent of the forest cover and maintain and enhance carbon sinks while raising income to the Gazi Bay community group in Kenya. Coral reefs play a significant role in tropical Africa and Red Sea through tourism and fisheries. Therefore, their protection is paramount to harness the benefit of marine resources for economic development.
2.3.8 Blue carbon Nellemann’s 2009 study indicated that although parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change developed strategies and mechanisms to enhance terrestrial green carbon sinks, less attention was given to marine and coastal ecosystems, despite their capacity to
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