Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

Old Planes to Be Transformed Into 100-Passenger Electric Planes by 2026, Startup Announces

Paige Bennett, EcoWatch Energy Solutions

The aviation industry is responsible for about 2.5% of global emissions, and its climate impact is about 3.5% of all anthropogenic global warming.

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Ocean to COP: coral reefs can help save the world

World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group

A guest blog by ocean leaders Peter Thomson (UN), Abdulla Naseer (Maldives) and Susan Lieberman (Wildlife Conservation Society).

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5 Examples of Best Practice to Sustainably Finance the Marine Renewable Energy Sector

UNEP FI Energy Solutions

COP26 today focuses on accelerating the global transition to clean energy. The blue (ocean) economy offers many opportunities for private finance to lend and invest in a sustainable and nature-positive way.

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Blue carbon: the hidden CO2 sink that pioneers say could save the planet (Pt 1/3)

Karen McVeigh, The Guardian

With the ocean key to meeting 1.5C, all eyes are now on the vital but overlooked “big three” marine ecosystems – seagrass, mangroves and salt marshes.

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World leaders announce plan to make green tech cheaper than alternatives

Damian Carrington, The Guardian Energy Solutions

A plan to coordinate the global introduction of clean technologies in order to rapidly drive down their cost has been agreed at the Cop26 summit by world leaders representing two-thirds of the world’s economy.

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Misconceptions about offshore aquaculture refuted in new paper

Rob Fletcher, The Fish Site Fisheries & Aquaculture

The offshore aquaculture sector has faced dogged criticism that undermines public support, but a new paper addresses many of these misconceptions and outlines the industry’s role in shoring up food security in the United States.

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Latin American countries join reserves to create vast marine protected area

Dan Collyns, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture

Four Pacific-facing Latin American nations have committed to joining their marine reserves to form one interconnected area, creating one of the world’s richest pockets of ocean biodiversity.

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COP26: The Great Melt - tales from the front lines of climate change

Robin Pomeroy, World Economic Forum

Veteran environment journalist Alister Doyle shares stories from the UN conference halls to the remotest parts of the Earth facing global warming.

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Maui Launches Stainless-Steel, Zero-Waste To-Go Container Program

Tiffany Duong, EcoWatch Plastics & Pollution

HuiZero, Hawaii's first zero-waste to-go container program, has just launched at participating restaurants across the island of Maui.

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Nature-Based Solutions High on the Agenda for Glasgow Climate COP

Thomas Hickey, The Pew Charitable Trusts Energy Solutions

Protecting coastal wetlands is a ‘triple win’ for planet and people—and a model for future climate action.

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The stage is set for seaweed startup success

Rob Fletcher, The Fish Site Fisheries & Aquaculture

Europe’s growing band of seaweed producers could be generating revenues of €2.7 billion and providing 85,000 jobs by 2030.

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We mapped every large solar plant on the planet using satellites and machine learning

Lucas Kruitwagen, The Conversation Energy Solutions

We built a machine learning system to detect these facilities in satellite imagery and then deployed the system on over 550 terabytes of imagery using several human lifetimes of computing.

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How a new platform is helping leaders in sustainable tourism build strong partnerships

Stephanie Walden, Business Insider Tourism

The not-for-profit The Sigmund Project connects sustainability-focused innovators in tourism.

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A new blue finance model for the people

World Ocean Initiative, The Economist Group

A guest blog from Karen Sack and Chip Cunliffe, co-chairs of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, on the freshly launched #BackBlue initiative.

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How to make fragile global supply chains stronger and more sustainable

Guitouni, A. et al., The Conversation Shipping & Ports

For most of us, supply chains are no longer an abstract concept. The COVID-19 pandemic raised our awareness about the interdependence of our economic systems.

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Cop26: ‘World conflict and chaos’ could be the result of a summit failure

Fiona Harvey, The Guardian Energy Solutions

Top climate official issues strong warning on effect of unchecked greenhouse gases ahead of summit.

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‘The cusp of a reuse revolution’: startups take the waste out of takeout

Amanda Schupak, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution

More than 70% of Americans report ordering takeout or delivery one to three times a week – resulting in hundreds of billions of single-use products.

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Stop overfishing or we’ll buy elsewhere, top UK fish firm warns European states

Karen McVeigh, The Guardian Fisheries & Aquaculture

Young’s Seafood joins calls for sustainable quotas of mackerel, herring and blue whiting to be agreed in line with scientific advice.

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Plastic pollution on course to double by 2030

United Nations Plastics & Pollution

Plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water continues to grow sharply and could more than double by 2030, according to an assessment released on Thursday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

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US plastics to outstrip coal’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, study finds

Maya Yang, The Guardian Plastics & Pollution

American plastics industry, described by experts as ‘the new coal’, releasing at least 232m tons of gas annually.

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