Ocean Planning’s Impact - An economic, environmental, and social retrospective
Channel: OCTO (Open Communications for the Ocean)
Date: 17/08/2015

This webinar originally aired on 4 December 2014.

Existing studies have helped define what good ocean planning (also known as Maritime or Marine Spatial Planning) looks like, the possible conservation and community benefits, and how it theoretically could cut costs and create economic value. However, little evidence has been compiled previously to show the actual results of ocean plans.

This webinar previewed the results of a new empirical study of the economic, environmental, and social impacts of five established ocean plans: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Norway’s Barents Sea, and Belgium. The study shows that on net, all of these plans resulted in broadly shared benefits. Economically, they delivered on average US$60 million per year in economic value from new industries (primarily wind) and retained value in existing industries. Environmentally, plans increased marine protection, ensured industry avoids sensitive habitat, cut carbon, and reduced the risk of oil spills. Socially, the plans encouraged constructive engagement, broad participation, and marine research, transcending the plans themselves. This webinar walked through the detailed results, including the benefits and costs of the ocean plans.

This webinar was cosponsored by the EBM Tools Network, and it was presented by Jason Blau and Lee Green of Redstone Strategy Group.