Greening the Blue Economy : The Turquoise Economy & the Challenges of Sustainable Growth in Small Island Economies

Read, Robert (2025) Greening the Blue Economy : The Turquoise Economy & the Challenges of Sustainable Growth in Small Island Economies. In: Handbook of Sustainable Blue Economy :. Springer, Switzerland. (In Press)

Abstract

Small economies face significant growth challenges owing to the constraints imposed by their size. In the decades preceding the 2007-08 global financial crisis and 2020 COVID-19 pandemic however, many successful small economies enjoyed strong growth and rising living standards through specialisation in offshore financial centres and international tourism. These core activities are now under threat owing to their heavy dependence on environmentally-damaging medium- and long-haul airlinks along with the tightening of international regulation on tax havens. The Blue Economy is regarded in certain key international policy circles as a potential growth panacea, particularly for small island economies given their limited potential for diversification. Many of these economies are also islands and therefore guardians of very substantial Economic Exploitation Zones (EEZs); notably, the overseas territories of France, the UK and the US. Increased policy emphasis on promoting Blue Economy activities therefore represents a major threat to remaining pristine oceanic resources and bio-diversity and runs counter to international sustainability efforts – notably Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and the ratification of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement). This chapter provides an original contribution in terms of its analysis of the nexus between the twin objectives of small island economies in achieving sustainable growth while also maintaining living standards for their citizens. It provides a brief overview of current thinking regarding the concept of the Blue Economy and argues that the concept has been compromised and diluted by commercial interests such that it now represents a potential existential threat to environmental sustainability. There is therefore a pressing need for its scope to be ‘greened’ to restore its original environmental objectives to achieve a truly Turquoise economy. Secondary statistical data is used to demonstrate the extent of the EEZs of small island economies, both sovereign and non-sovereign territories of the major metropolitan (former colonial) powers, many of which possess disproportionately large EEZs. As such, they are critically important guardians of both inshore and oceanic marine environments. Some 103 small island economies, 33 sovereign states and 70 non-sovereign territories, are responsible for 39.6% of the global EEZ area, rising to almost 51% when the small island territories’ metropoles are also included. It is argued that small island states and territories, along with their metropoles, have a global responsibility to co-operate and ensure the implementation of a more sustainable Turquoise policy agenda that, at the very least, greens the unsustainable elements of the Blue Economy as it is currently defined. Building upon previous research by the author on the growth challenges of small economies, the chapter demonstrates that these economies are at the forefront of the critical policy dilemma of simultaneously maintaining living standards and ensuring environmental sustainability. While many small island economies have long been conscientious guardians of their extensive EEZs and advocates of environmental sustainability, they are under increasing pressure to monetise their marine resources to assure their future growth and prosperity.