The traditional approach to the so-called “ocean economy” continues to treat the ocean as “a commodity to be exploited,” oriented toward immediate gains and by an extractive logic incompatible with the planet’s limits. In an interview with Green Savers, Stefania Semenova, project manager at the Blue Ocean Foundation, argues that the ocean “must be understood as a shared natural asset that sustains life, resilience, and long-term prosperity.”
For the manager, a truly sustainable blue economy “requires a fundamental transformation in the way we organize and measure economic activity” and “should be guided by scientific research, but there is a persistent lack of integration of the ocean in the decision-making processes of governments and financial institutions.” This undervaluation “is particularly worrying, given the scale and acceleration of the ocean crisis,” she warns.
In a context where sectors such as offshore wind energy are gaining strategic weight, safeguarding means “ensuring that its development is strictly aligned with biodiversity goals and with the health of marine ecosystems,” the manager adds. Stefania Semenova also states that the risk of “bluewashing” is a “visible threat” and demands science-based decisions, transparency, and clear rules. It is up to the State to reorient harmful subsidies, prevent damaging practices at their origin, and make visible the value of blue natural capital. Portugal is well placed to establish itself as a European and global reference, but only if it avoids turning the blue economy into a new label for old practices on a finite planet.
The Blue Ocean Foundation has assumed a significant role in affirming the blue economy in Portugal. Why do you consider it essential to move beyond the traditional notion of the “ocean economy”?
Going beyond the traditional “ocean economy” is essential because the current model is highly extractive and based on an incessant pursuit of growth in a planet whose resources are finite. This traditional approach treats the ocean as a commodity to be exploited, becoming one of the main drivers of its degradation and, therefore, incompatible with its recovery. We will not be able to protect the ocean without transforming the economic system that sustains its degradation, climate changes, and the broader planetary crises we face today. Recognizing this, the Blue Ocean Foundation has worked to promote concrete examples of what a future based on a truly sustainable blue economy could look like.
No centro desta abordagem está a visão da Fundação de uma economia azul sustentável que altere o paradigma predominante, afastando-se da extração e dos ganhos a curto prazo. Em vez disso, o oceano deve ser entendido como um bem natural partilhado que sustenta a vida, a resiliência e a prosperidade a longo prazo. Esta perspetiva exige valorizar o oceano não apenas pelos bens e serviços imediatos que fornece, mas também pelo seu papel fundamental na regulação climática e na estabilidade dos ecossistemas. Ao integrar as dimensões ambientais, sociais e de equidade na tomada de decisões económicas, este modelo procura afastar-se de atividades prejudiciais e avançar para uma abordagem regenerativa que alinha a atividade económica com os limites planetários e a saúde a longo prazo dos ecossistemas marinhos.
O modelo económico azul defende uma abordagem que coloca a natureza e as comunidades no centro das decisões. Na prática, sentem que esta mudança de paradigma já está refletida nas políticas públicas e nas opções económicas ligadas ao oceano?
Although the paradigm shift toward a nature-centered blue economy is gaining momentum, it is not yet fully reflected in global economic choices. A truly sustainable blue economy requires more than minor adjustments to the current system; it demands a fundamental transformation in how we organize and measure economic activity. The current economic model often externalizes environmental and social costs and rewards degradation. For example, only about 3% of global investment is currently directed toward nature-positive initiatives, while the remaining 97% continues to fund activities that are environmentally harmful (UNEP, 2023). This imbalance illustrates how financial flows and incentives remain misaligned with the ocean’s long-term health and the well-being of communities.
There is, however, growing recognition that the ocean is not merely a space for human activity but a living system that provides essential services to climate, biodiversity, and societies. Its role as a climate regulator, carbon sink, and reservoir of biodiversity is fundamental to planetary resilience. Economic models that do not account for these functions remain structurally limited. This underscores the need for a deeper transformation toward a sustainable blue economy in which nature and communities are not peripheral considerations but central to how policies are designed, investments directed, and economic success defined.
That said, important policy advances are beginning to appear. There are significant strides in regulatory instruments such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which require companies to disclose and address their environmental impacts. These instruments represent a shift toward greater accountability, even though their effectiveness depends on robust implementation and enforcement.
Nationally, Portugal offers an emerging example through the Blue Bioeconomy Pact, an mobilizing agenda under the Recovery and Resilience Plan that brings together more than 80 companies, research institutions, and public actors. The Pact focuses on the reindustrialization of strategic sectors, integrating blue biotechnology into value chains, promoting the sustainable use of marine resources to drive innovation, decarbonization, and job creation. It illustrates how the principles of the blue economy can begin to translate into industrial action and concrete policies.
Despite this progress, the ocean remains largely invisible in national accounts and financial models. As a result, community interests and the long-term value of ecosystems are often subordinated to short-term economic returns. The move from a niche concept to a broad policy is still an ongoing process. In particular, community interests and the long-term value of ecosystems are often secondary to immediate economic returns in decision-making processes.
Fala-se cada vez mais do risco de algumas iniciativas se apresentarem como “azuis” sem alterarem verdadeiramente os seus modelos de atuação. Esse fenómeno é visível em Portugal? Como distinguir projetos sérios de simples estratégias de comunicação?
The risk of “bluewashing” is a visible threat that must be countered through science-based decision-making and transparency. Serious projects related to funding can be distinguished from mere communication strategies by their adherence to high-integrity “blue” standards, as set by the United Nations, which require the clear exclusion of harmful activities and alignment with climate goals. Additionally, genuine initiatives focus on “investable-relevant” data and rigorous biodiversity reporting, rather than vague sustainability claims.
In Portugal, one of the Blue Ocean Foundation’s projects, Blue Bio Value, demonstrates how this can work in practice. The program has supported more than 96 startups operating along the value chain of marine resources to develop sustainable and market-ready solutions. By focusing on research-driven, sustainable solutions and capacity-building within the blue bioeconomy, BBV shows how projects can move beyond communication to generate tangible environmental and social impact.
Que papel concreto tem desempenhado a Fundação Oceano Azul para assegurar que a economia azul assenta em conhecimento científico, sustentabilidade ambiental e impacto real no território?
The Blue Ocean Foundation is a nature-conservation foundation centered on the ocean, working to restore and maintain the ocean’s health and productivity for the benefit of life on the planet. Its efforts focus on supporting the implementation of effective, science-based Marine Protected Areas, while promoting international commitments to protect 30% of the world’s oceans.
Acknowledging that ocean protection requires more than isolated conservation, the Foundation operates at the intersection of conservation, international advocacy, and policy, frameworks, and the economy. In this domain, it promotes a sustainable, ecologically sound, socially equitable model aligned with global sustainability objectives. This includes advocating for legal and financial mechanisms that adequately value ecosystem services, supporting international cooperation in ocean governance, and promoting the integration of Blue Natural Capital into public and private decision-making. By challenging outdated ocean policies and catalyzing systemic changes in how marine resources are valued and managed, the Foundation ensures that the blue economy is science-based, environmentally sustainable, and with tangible impacts.
Ultimately, the Foundation’s approach rests on the principle that only by restoring and maintaining the ocean’s health can the blue economy become a credible path to a sustainable future resilient to climate change.
On this basis, the Foundation has played a leadership role at the science-economy interface to ensure that the blue economy has a concrete territorial impact. It contributed to the creation of the Portuguese INOVAMAR consortium and the Blue Bioeconomy Pact, valued at 139 million euros, which brings together more than 80 national entities across regenerative industries based on marine resources.
Additionally, we are collaborating with the London School of Economics to re-evaluate the “Blue Natural Capital.” This initiative aims to ensure that the essential ecological services and systemic functions of the ocean—such as carbon fixation, nutrient cycling, and biomass production—are finally reflected in economic decision-making. Although still in its early stages, the initiative brings together an international, interdisciplinary group of experts in economics, law, finance, and systems science, with the goal of redefining the concept of Blue Natural Capital and identifying strategies to shift mindsets, creating a bridge to its widespread adoption. The initiative intends to demonstrate that a healthy ocean is a shared natural asset to be safeguarded and invested in, not a resource to be extracted unsustainably, promoting recognition and valorization of Blue Natural Capital while supporting a systemic shift in how it is recognized in economics, finance, and law.
A ciência do oceano tem hoje o peso necessário nas decisões políticas associadas à economia azul ou continua a ser subvalorizada?
Ocean science continues to be undervalued in political and economic decision-making, often treated as secondary to immediate financial gain. The natural systems of the ocean are frequently invisible in economic forecasts because their benefits—such as nutrient cycling, climate regulation, oxygen production, and ecosystem resilience—are rarely accounted for in economic models or policy frameworks. We contend that a truly “blue” economy must be science-led, but there remains a persistent lack of integration of the ocean into government and financial institutions’ decision processes. This undervaluation is particularly troubling given the scale and acceleration of the ocean crisis. Ocean warming, acidification, biomass decline, and rapidly advancing biodiversity loss are already disrupting the ocean’s chemistry, biology, and climate-regulating capacity.
Nevertheless, global governance frameworks have struggled to keep pace with this scientific evidence, resulting in fragmented and often reactive rather than preventive political responses. The limited integration of marine science into decision-making not only weakens environmental outcomes but also undermines long-term economic and social resilience.
Ultimately, this gap reflects a deeper structural failure in how the ocean has been governed and perceived—primarily as a resource or space for exploitation, rather than as a living, interconnected system that sustains planetary stability. Marine science must occupy a central place in decision-making if the blue economy is to deliver real sustainability, climate resilience, and lasting benefits.
A formação e a capacitação, sobretudo das gerações mais jovens, são frequentemente apontadas como determinantes. Que importância têm, de facto, para garantir uma economia azul com futuro?
Education and capacity-building are decisive factors because many companies, financial institutions, and governments still lack awareness of how their decisions impact the ocean or how the space of solutions is defined. Practically, this means building a track record of successful projects and integrating the ocean into school and university curricula to familiarize future decision-makers with the blue economy and ocean protection. Ocean literacy shapes how society perceives and values the Blue Natural Capital. It goes beyond knowledge about marine ecosystems to include an understanding of the ocean as a living system that plays a vital role in climate regulation, food security, and economic resilience. Education builds this capacity by fostering critical thinking and respect for nature’s limits, while equipping future generations to base their choices on scientific evidence and not short-term returns. It also strengthens public engagement and social responsibility, creating support for decisions and being essential for a resilient blue economy.
For the younger generation, a future-oriented blue economy offers significant opportunities for innovation in response to global challenges. Engaging young people early through education ensures they are aware of ocean challenges and equipped with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions, contributing to a society that values, protects, and gradually builds a regenerative ocean economy.
Sendo a economia azul apresentada como um modelo inclusivo, que não se limita às zonas costeiras, de que forma pode Portugal assegurar que os benefícios chegam também ao interior do país?
The blue economy should be approached as a national value chain rather than a set of activities limited to coastal areas. To ensure its benefits reach inland regions of Portugal, it must be seen as a systemic economic shift that influences innovation and supply chains wherever they are located. Although many marine activities occur along the coast, much value creation through research, processing, digital services, finance, and advanced manufacturing can be generated inland, making the blue economy relevant to the entire country.
The Blue Bioeconomy Pact illustrates this inclusive approach, bringing together about 80 national entities, including 50 companies of varying sizes and sectors and 30 research and innovation organizations, to develop market-ready solutions in the food, feed, and biotechnology sectors. At the same time, innovation in the blue bioeconomy is creating new industrial sectors that rely on terrestrial resources, competencies, and knowledge to support marine-based products. By accounting for the value of Portugal’s Blue Natural Capital in the national budget, the economic benefits of a healthy ocean can be reflected in public decision-making, strengthening economic resilience across the country, including in inland regions.
A aposta na energia eólica offshore surge como uma prioridade estratégica. Que salvaguardas considera essenciais para compatibilizar este desenvolvimento com a proteção dos ecossistemas marinhos?
As offshore wind energy becomes a strategic priority, the essential safeguard is to ensure that its development is rigorously aligned with biodiversity goals and the health of marine ecosystems. We believe that any expansion of the blue economy, including renewables, must avoid the past’s “harmful and extractive” approach and instead operate within planetary boundaries. This requires comprehensive environmental (and social) impact assessments and a holistic valuation of the area’s natural capital to prevent harmful practices before they occur. For example, offshore wind projects should be designed to support—rather than compromise—the productivity and resilience of the ocean system, ensuring that the shift to clean energy does not come at the expense of marine life.
The essential safeguards include ecosystem-based project planning and Maritime Spatial Planning to ensure infrastructures avoid ecologically sensitive areas, account for the cumulative impacts of multiple activities, and reduce conflicts with other ocean users. Rigorous Environmental Impact Assessments should be conducted at all development stages, accompanied by mapping and continuous monitoring of biodiversity and marine habitats to guide responsible siting. Hybrid and nature-positive solutions, such as offshore structures that provide habitat or combining floating wind farms with low-impact aquaculture or restoration initiatives, can generate energy while supporting ecosystem regeneration. Offshore energy must also align with climate, biodiversity, and public policy goals, including national protection targets and EU initiatives like the European Green Deal and Horizon Europe, to accelerate technologies that are positive for both energy and nature. Finally, engaging local communities, scientists, and other ocean users in decision-making processes is crucial to ensure offshore development respects ecological boundaries, fosters coexistence, and contributes to a regenerative and sustainable blue economy.
Ainda é comum ouvir que proteger o oceano pode travar o crescimento económico. Como respondem a esse argumento?
The argument that protecting the ocean will hinder economic growth reflects a fundamental misunderstanding; in reality, marine protection is the foundation for long-term value creation. A healthy, functioning ocean provides essential benefits to society and thus to the economy, enabling planetary systems to operate in a stable manner. Processes such as nutrient cycling, climate regulation, and oxygen production are often assumed to occur reliably simply because they historically have.
However, the current extractive and damaging approach to the ocean and nature, treating them as a “free” resource, hides the erosion of the natural safety net by focusing strictly on short-term economic growth. When negative impacts are excluded from decision-making and the true value of nature’s functioning and living systems is treated as an externality, a spiral of degradation of the very assets on which society and the economy depend is fed. This creates hidden risks that materialize only when critical limits are exceeded.
Economically, if we continue with “business as usual,” two-thirds of listed companies could lose up to $8.4 trillion in value over the next 12 years due to ocean degradation (WWF, 2021). By contrast, a transition to a sustainable blue economy could reduce these losses by up to $5 trillion. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) should not be viewed as a “cost” to governments but as essential capital investments. They safeguard critical services such as carbon storage, biodiversity generation, and ecosystem resilience, which underpin the future functioning of the planet and, in turn, long-term economic opportunity and productivity.
Que responsabilidades deve assumir o Estado na criação de regras claras que incentivem o investimento, sem colocar em causa a saúde dos oceanos?
The State must take responsibility for establishing clear rules that reorient harmful subsidies and implement regulations to prevent damaging practices at their source. This includes integrating Blue Natural Capital into budgets and national accounts, making visible to all decision-makers the full economic, social, and strategic value of a healthy ocean. By implementing these frameworks, the State provides certainty and confidence to financial institutions and investors to direct capital toward sustainable industries rather than extractive ones. This approach enables truly informed, long-term decision-making, ensuring that the benefits of keeping natural systems functioning are fully accounted for alongside monetary returns.
Intersectoral collaboration among research institutions, companies, and public bodies allows the development of new products, services, and technologies that incorporate the value of marine resources into both traditional and emerging value chains. Well-designed regulations, monitoring, and transparent incentives not only protect the ocean but can also spur innovation, attract new investments, and foster the growth of sustainable emerging sectors. In this way, the State not only safeguards the ocean but also helps unlock the economic potential of a regenerative blue economy, creating opportunities that benefit society, industry, and future generations.
Portugal reúne condições para se afirmar como uma referência europeia ou mesmo global na economia azul? O que falta para dar esse salto?
Portugal has the essential conditions to become a European and global reference in the blue economy. With the fifth-largest Exclusive Economic Zone in Europe, the country has an extensive maritime territory that provides a unique platform to expand sustainable economic activity, promote innovation, and strengthen ocean-related research and development. Portugal’s blue economy benefits from a diverse range of sectors, including coastal tourism, living marine resources, and ocean-based services, supported by a strong innovation platforms network.
To take the next leap, Portugal—and any country pursuing a regenerative blue economy—must adopt a systemic approach. This means integrating Blue Natural Capital into national accounting and public budgets, redirecting finance and subsidies toward sustainable solutions, and developing legal and economic frameworks that reflect the intrinsic value of living marine systems. It also requires ensuring that the value of Blue Natural Capital is embedded in both public and private decision-making. Education and skills development are equally essential. Specialized programs that marry knowledge of the blue economy with business, technology, and finance will prepare the workforce to innovate, manage sustainable value chains, and translate research into market-ready solutions.
Atividades tradicionais, como a pesca, enfrentam desafios crescentes. Como podem integrar-se numa lógica de economia azul sem perder sustentabilidade econômica e social?
Traditional activities, such as fishing, can be integrated into a blue economy framework by shifting from a focus on short-term yield to a model that values the fish’s role in the broader ecosystem. This does not mean ending fishing but evolving the sector to support responsible management and ensure that biodiversity and ecosystem services are recognized as the “capital” that underpins the future social and economic welfare of the industry. This shift protects the livelihoods of coastal communities while maintaining the long-term productivity of the oceans they depend on.
To make this integration credible for those whose lives depend on daily catches, the blue economy must be framed as a strategy to protect the “biological capital” that underpins local livelihoods and coastal heritage. Traditional fishers are often among the first to feel the impacts of ocean degradation and must be central to the transition from a volume-based to a value-based model. This means supporting the sector with investments in traceability, improved technology, and shorter supply chains, enabling fishers to capture higher market value for sustainably caught products rather than competing in a race to the bottom with industrial extraction.
By establishing science-based co-management and protecting critical nursery areas through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), we are not restricting fishing but ensuring the “capital” needed for productive and resilient seas. Ultimately, the Foundation views the blue economy as a means to ensure the ocean continues to be a source of wealth and dignity for the next generation of fishers, moving from a model of depletion to a long-term, responsible management model where a healthy ocean is the only guarantee of stable income.
Até que ponto a economia azul pode ser decisiva para o cumprimento dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, em particular o ODS 14, dedicado à proteção da vida marinha?
The blue economy is decisive for achieving SDG 14 because it seeks to redirect the substantial flow of global capital from harmful activities to ocean-positive solutions. Without this financial shift, any progress in establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) risks being undermined by market incentives that favor extraction and degradation. Continuing with business as usual would further deteriorate ocean health, risking enormous global economic and ecological value. In contrast, a truly sustainable blue economy aligns the pursuit of economic prosperity with the urgent need to protect marine life, turning responsible ocean governance into a driver of innovation, investment, and long-term social benefit. Thus, it becomes not only a policy support tool but a central engine for achieving the 2030 targets of SDG 14.
Existe o risco de a economia azul se tornar apenas um novo rótulo para práticas antigas. Se daqui a uma década continuarmos a falar de economia azul, mas o estado do oceano tiver piorado, onde é que Portugal terá falhado?
There is a significant risk that the blue economy might become “a new label for old practices” if we do not move beyond the endless pursuit of growth on a finite planet. A sustainable blue economy is not an add-on to existing development paths but a necessary paradigm shift. As the ocean faces mounting pressures from climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, it is imperative to incorporate natural capital into economic decision-making, valuing the ocean not only for the immediate goods and services it provides but also for its role in climate regulation, ecosystem resilience, and global habitable conditions.
Portugal will have failed if, in a decade, we continue to treat the ocean as an infinite resource and invisible in our financial models and national forecasts. Success requires a transition from extraction to regeneration. If the ocean’s status continues to deteriorate, it will be because we have not redefined the concept of “value” and allowed short-term financial interests to outweigh scientific and ecological limits. Sectors dependent on marine ecosystems—from fishing and aquaculture to biotechnology and tourism—must operate within planetary boundaries. Emerging sectors, such as marine biotechnology and the blue bioeconomy, offer real potential, but their success is inseparable from the health of the ocean system on which they rely.
This responsibility does not lie only with Portugal; it is a multilateral effort to achieve this objective. Yet, as a leader in ocean affairs, the country must set an example. In this vision, the blue economy, finance, and law are not merely tools for growth; they are instruments of renewal, resilience, and a genuinely sustainable future.
*Interview originally published in the March 2026 print edition
