Foreword

This report was developed as part of the Blue Recovery Hub of Fiji, a collaboration between the OECD, Friends of Ocean Action, and the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP), with the generous support of the United Kingdom Government's Blue Planet Fund.

The objective of Blue Recovery Hubs is to accelerate progress towards a sustainable and resilient recovery in participating countries, by (i) enhancing long-term sustainability of existing ocean economy sectors and (ii) generating new, sustainable opportunities for economic diversification, that can help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across multiple economic and social areas.

Blue Recovery Hubs help countries develop an evidence-based Blue Recovery Strategy and establish a partnership framework for implementation with providers of development co-operation, the private sector and other stakeholders. They offer a concrete opportunity for providers to support a step change in recovery efforts, towards inclusive and resilient development based on the sustainable use of natural resources. They facilitate the provision of co-ordinated and coherent development co-operation, aligned with the country’s own vision and strategy. Blue Recovery Hubs also provide a framework for development co-operation providers to progress towards international targets, such as the commitments made by the members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in their Declaration on a new approach to align development co-operation with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

This report is the key output of stage one of the Blue Recovery Hub of Fiji. It was developed using the analytical framework of the OECD Sustainable Ocean Economy Country Diagnostics, which are part of the OECD Sustainable Ocean for All Initiative. It incorporates unique OECD statistical sources, including dedicated estimates on ocean economy ODA. The report provides an overview of challenges and opportunities in the COVID crisis context, as well as an initial mapping of promising initiatives and funding instruments that can be developed and scaled up to foster a sustainable blue recovery. Stage two will focus on investment pathways to leverage the ocean economy sustainably. Stage three will culminate in a round table of stakeholders to consolidate support from development co-operation providers, private sector and other partners, for the implementation of the actions identified.