By Ruth Tene Natsa, Abuja
The Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Dr. Nnimmoh Bassey, has raised the alarm that Blue Economy portends great danger for Africa.
He raised the alarm in his opening remarks at the virtual HOMEF’s School of Ecology Session, on Blue Economy.
According to Dr Bassey, “Besides the illogic of limitless aquatic resources, the economic template could open our oceans for risky geo-engineering experimentation ostensibly to fight global warming.
“What we need is not cosmetic programmes that lock in the current ruinous track, but a completely overhauled economic system built on the picture of a future that is truly socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and economically just. These are just a few red flags on the Blue Economy,” he said.
The environmentalist noted that “Africa literally floats on water. She is surrounded by water. The Blue Economy covers the use of aquatic species, including those found in the creeks, rivers, lakes, oceans and underground water. It covers fisheries, tourism, transport, energy, bio-prospecting, marine biotechnology and underwater mining.”
These will clearly have serious negative impacts on the integrity of our aquatic ecosystems, he said. “We must understand that the Blue Economy is about the exploitation of water bodies. Just like land grabbing is raging across Africa, the Blue Economy will unleash an exacerbated sea grab on the continent. Already, marine resources on our continental shelf are being mindlessly plundered and trashed.”
“The Blue Economy will solidify this trend. Maritime insecurity will intensify, and our artisanal fishers will be at great risk. Deep sea mining will increase the pollution of our water bodies. It is speculated that marine biotechnology can bring Africa up to $5.9 billion by 2022, but in a continent with very lax bio-safety regulations this will mean reckless exploitation, contamination of local species and exposure to more risks and harms.”
He maintained that the world has been engulfed in crises arising from turmoil in the social, economic and environmental spheres. “The climate crisis is one of the most challenging problems of our age. Analysts agree that the crisis is a result of a deeply flawed economic model that sees nature as an inexhaustible source of materials including the non-renewable ones like coal, oil and gas. This mindset has led to massive deforestation, and mono culture agriculture leading to nutritional deficiencies,” he said.
“It has generally encouraged over consumption, wastage and the driving of species to extinction. It goes without saying that of the three legs of sustainability, it is the economic one that takes precedent, creates the problems and is at the same time presented as the solution. Some of the economic bandages applied to the multiple crises engulfing the world include the Green Economy and the Blue Economy. If we are not careful the Green New Deal may end up being another of these.”
According to him, careful consideration of the impacts of alterations or transformations in the environment leads to less degradation and ensures less destruction of habitats.
Applying the mercantilist notion of the Green Economy to seas, rivers and other water bodies will further erode the seeing of the gifts of nature as things that should be protected, preserved and nurtured from an inter-generational perspective. This is imperative because over 200 million Africans draw their nutrition from freshwater and ocean fish and over 10 million depend on them for income, he said
