Our mission at the Center for the Blue Economy is to promote a sustainable, resilient ocean and coastal economy (the “Blue Economy”) through leadership in research, analysis, and education.
What is the “Blue Economy”?
The “Blue Economy” comprises the economic activities that create sustainable wealth from the world’s oceans and coasts. The center examines ways that ocean and coastal resources can support economic development and enhance healthy, resilient oceans and well-managed coastlines.
Our Research
Our research focuses on two areas—helping organizations understand how to measure the size and changing nature of economic relationships with the oceans and coasts in order to guide choices and monitor progress, and the economics of climate change adaptation in coastal regions.
Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act (H.R. 8632) Debated Live
On Tuesday, 11/17/2020, the U.S. House of Representatives had a hearing on Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act (H.R. 8632). The Center for the Blue Economy and Blue Frontier, in collaboration with hundreds of innovative leaders in business, academia, research, Indigenous communities, NGOs, and environmental justice groups gave input to the bill, though our Ocean Climate Action Plan policy paper (about 50% of which was adopted into the final language). As far as we know, this is a first for MIIS and for Middlebury.
If the public would like to urge congress to support the bill, please sign on to our letter of support: change.org/oceanclimateaction
Sign the Petition and Join the Wave of Support
Take action and add your name to the Change.org/OceanClimateAction petition to pledge your support!
The Role of Blue Carbon in Climate Change Impacts
This news story by KPBS in San Diego features one of our partners, WildCoast, in our fight to bring ocean climate legislation to the national fore in 2021. It defines blue carbon and how it can help defend against the effects of climate change. Blue carbon is a part of the coastal adaptation recommendations in the Ocean Climate Action Plan, a non-partisan policy paper co-created by the Center for the Blue Economy, Blue Frontier, and our partner organizations.
Two speaker series converge in the fall term: On Tuesdays at 6:00pm Pacific Time, the Center for the Blue Economy speakers focus on ocean and coastal issues, while Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30pm Pacific Time, the Environmental Justice and Sustainability speakers include issues ranging from systemic racism to climate change to sustainable food systems. The public is welcome to attend all lectures, held online via Zoom. The series has wrapped up for the year, but new lectures will be listed in early February. Click the link above to see the full lineup from 2020—many lectures were recorded and can be enjoyed anytime.
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Follow the Center for the Blue Economy on Twitter @CBE_MIIS or Facebook @CenterForTheBlueEconomy for related news stories on the Ocean Climate Action Plan.
Center for the Blue Economy News
U.S. Officially Measures Blue Economy in GDP
June 2, 2020
America’s Blue Economy Worth Nearly $373 Billion
For the first time, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce will officially measure the economic contributions of the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes in national income accounts. The Center for the Blue Economy, Dr. Charles Colgan (CBE Director of Research) and the National Ocean Economics Program team (precursor and foundation of the CBE) have been innovating and advocating for 21 years to make this happen. The link above has more detail, and slides below show the first set of official statistics.
