國際海洋資訊

A Coherent Ocean Future:The Implementation of Sustainable Ocean Planning (SOPs) as Integrated Governance Tools.

Cynthia Barzuna

Global Deputy Director, Oceans Program, World Resources Institute (WRI)

Keywords:Sustainable Ocean Economy, Sustainable Ocean Planning, Blue Economy, Blue Finance,

Ocean Governance

Cynthia Barzuna serves as Global Deputy Director of the Ocean Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI), specializing in sustainable ocean planning and marine protected area management. She previously served as Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Water and Oceans, leading the expansion of Cocos Island National Park to achieve protection of 31% of the country's exclusive economic zone by 2021.

The ocean is the world's largest natural asset and underpins the livelihoods of over three billion people globally. However, the health of the ocean is increasingly under threat due to climate change, pollution, and unsustainable exploitation. Delivering a Sustainable Ocean Economy (SOE) is essential to restore ocean health and support economic and social prosperity.

A Sustainable Ocean Economy is not merely defined by extraction or productivity—it is built upon the conditions we create for long-term prosperity, security, and equity. At the center of this enabling environment is coherence: coherence in governance, finance, diplomacy, and human inclusion. Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs) offer this integrative foundation.

Maritime Security as a Development Enabler

Historically siloed, maritime security is now recognized as a prerequisite for sustainable ocean development. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, IUU) fishing, piracy, trafficking, and port vulnerabilities all undermine ocean economies. According to the Our Ocean Conference 10-Year Progress Report, maritime security received the fewest number of commitments (215) but boasts the second-highest implementation rate (47%), with $2.3 billion delivered as of January 2025 (Lee-Emery, Cuddy and Pickerell, 2025). This marks the maritime security sector as one with clear growth opportunity and potential to support national and global security objectives while simultaneously addressing urgent needs of ocean-reliant communities.

Countries like Taiwan and Japan have made strategic investments in coast guard capacity and surveillance not as isolated security measures, but as enablers of blue economy growth. These investments protect fisheries, reduce risk, and increase investor confidence—highlighting that maritime domain awareness and cross-agency  coordination are essential to unlocking ocean-based prosperity.

SOPs: Catalysts for Integration

SOPs are national strategies to manage 100% of a country's ocean space sustainably—ecologically, economically, and socially. They offer a unifying policy umbrella across ministries of fisheries, environment, finance, and defense, intergovernmental agencies  and all of the stakeholders of the ocean. They institutionalize tools such as marine spatial planning, ISPS/SSAS compliance, early warning systems, and crisis coordination protocols. They provide clear investment signals and de-risk ocean sectors for both public and private investors.

The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel) is a unique initiative that brings together 18 world leaders—Presidents and Prime Ministers—who are committed to catalyzing bold, science-based action for ocean protection and sustainable use. The Ocean Panel aims to build momentum for a sustainable ocean economy that benefits people, nature, and climate. Its headline commitment is that 100% of the ocean areas under national jurisdiction of Panel members will be sustainably managed, through the development and implementation of Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs). This groundbreaking pledge sets a global precedent and serves as a call to action for other countries to follow suit in aligning ocean governance with economic, social, and environmental goals. 

To support countries in achieving this goal, the Ocean Panel helped establish Ocean Action 2030, a coalition of expert institutions that provides technical assistance, knowledge sharing, and capacity-building to governments developing SOPs. Building on this momentum, the 100% Alliance was launched to encourage all coastal and ocean states—not just Panel members—to commit to sustainably managing 100% of their national ocean area. The Alliance aims to advance global action and peer learning toward achieving ocean sustainability worldwide by 2030.

As the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy emphasizes, a Sustainable Ocean Economy cannot be built without a Sustainable Ocean Plan. Yet only nine countries have adopted SOPs to date. The 100% Alliance—launched by France and Chile—invites more nations to join this political commitment to manage 100% of their ocean areas sustainably by 2030.

Finance: The $550 Billion Gap

The current state of blue finance is dire. SDG14 remains the least funded of all goals. Between 2015 and 2019, only 0.01% of total SDG-linked development finance was allocated to the ocean. 

Ocean finance is insufficient and misaligned, Ocean Panel's Ocean finance for the sustainable ocean economy report, estimates current financial flows fall short of the estimated a $550 billion annual finance gap needed annually to support the SOE, with a significant investment still supporting harmful subsidies and unsustainable activities.

Critical ocean sectors are underfunded, including marine conservation, marine renewable energy, sustainable fisheries and tourism, nature-based solutions, and data innovation. Barriers include lack of standardized frameworks, limited disclosure and transparency, high transaction costs, low returns, and weak enabling environments, especially in LDCs and SIDS.

The report also highlights that less than 1% of official development assistance and philanthropic funding is directed toward ocean sustainability. SOPs can help change this by embedding sustainability into national investment strategies, improving bankability, and aligning with climate and biodiversity goals. The establishment of new instruments like blue bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and performance-based financing tied to ecological and social outcomes are essential next steps.

To advance a sustainable ocean economy, the report outlines several key pathways and recommendations. First, it calls for aligning ocean finance with global climate, biodiversity, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by embedding ocean sustainability into national financial strategies and business operations. Creating enabling environments through stronger policy, regulation, and governance—particularly in support of coastal communities and small-scale actors—is essential. Additionally, strengthening financial infrastructure by scaling seed funding, improving data systems, promoting blue bonds, and supporting Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs) aligned with national climate priorities can help unlock investment. Finally, the report urges the redirection of capital away from harmful practices by reforming subsidies, introducing ocean user fees, and incentivizing private sector participation in regenerative ocean sectors.

A People-Centered Ocean: Inclusion and Equity

Today, more than 133 million people work in ocean sectors—mostly in fisheries and aquaculture. However, many work informally and with limited protections.

Today, the ocean economy is a vital global resource supporting over 133 million formal jobs across sectors like fisheries, tourism, marine transport, and energy. Including informal and subsistence employment, this number could be significantly higher. However, climate change, technological shifts, and growing sustainability imperatives are reshaping employment dynamics. Ocean Panel's Blue Paper The future of the workforce in a sustainable ocean economy explores the current status and future trends in ocean-related jobs, identifying both risks and opportunities as the world transitions toward a sustainable ocean economy. By 2050, the sustainable ocean economy could generate an additional 51 million jobs.

The report warns of substantial skills gaps, particularly in developing countries and coastal communities, and highlights challenges like regional disparities, limited access to education, infrastructure gaps, and social inequities—especially for women and Indigenous peoples. Still, there are major job creation opportunities in marine renewable energy, sustainable aquaculture, biotechnology, and conservation, especially if investment is paired with workforce training and digital innovation.

Key recommendations include the development of Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs), creation of national blue skills strategies, improvements in data systems, and stronger public-private partnerships. Governments, the private sector, financial institutions, and academia all have roles to play in building an inclusive, adaptive, and skilled workforce. With coordinated action, the transition to a sustainable ocean economy can create millions of new jobs while protecting ocean ecosystems and promoting social equity.

SOPs must be explicit about inclusion. The Ocean Panel calls for blue workforce development plans, inclusive skills training, formalization of labor, and gender-responsive governance. If we want to enable blue jobs and dignity, we must center people—particularly Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth—in ocean governance frameworks.

Conclusion: Turning the Tide with Coherent Action

The ocean knows no borders—its currents, ecosystems, and crises are deeply interconnected. To protect this vast shared resource and unlock its full potential, we must reject fragmented approaches and embrace coherence across governance, finance, security, and equity. Sustainable Ocean Plans (SOPs), supported by frameworks like the 100% Alliance and Ocean Action 2030, offer a powerful pathway to do just that.

This is not only about policy—it is about purpose. It is about placing people, particularly coastal communities, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, at the heart of decision-making. It is about aligning public and private investments with the long-term health of our planet. And it is about ensuring that maritime security, economic opportunity, and environmental protection work together—not in isolation.

The time for siloed action is over. The tools are in our hands. If we act with clarity, commitment, and collaboration, we can shape a future where the ocean is secure, sustainably managed, and fully integrated into national priorities for climate, biodiversity, and inclusive growth.

References

[1]Thiele, T., A. Pouponneau, A. Swi, L. Arnaud, D. Barrowclough, Y. Batista, C.L. Carpentier, D. Vivas Eugui, L. Heaps, S. Johnson, C. Jolly, S. Koirala, S. Ockenden, A. Peltola, R.D. Tirumala, K. Sack, M. Walsh, and T. Wang.2025. Ocean Finance for the Sustainable Ocean Economy. Washington, DC: High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. https://oceanpanel.org/publication/fnance-for-the-sustainable-ocean-economy/

[2]Ben Hassen, L., C.S. Colgan, M.J. Spalding, O.S. Ashford, A. Castelletto, H. Ding, M. Grasso, P.A.S. James, K. Narula, A. Pouponneau, T. Slingsby and T. Smanis. 2025. The Future of the Workforce in a Sustainable Ocean Economy. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://oceanpanel.org/publication/oceanemployment/ DOI: https://doi.org/10.69902/64d6259f

[3]Lee-Emery, A., M.Cuddy, and T. Pickerell. 2025. "Assessing 10 years of international commitments to sustainable ocean action: A global stocktake of the Our Ocean Conference." Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. DOI: 10.46830/wriwp.24.00134.