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With the race to 2030 already underway, the thrust to look at the health of oceans has increased exponentially both in international and national policies. The next decade is crucial for achieving Agenda 2030 and even more crucial is to accelerate progress in SDG 14: Life Below Water which is far below in the progress card. With countries gearing to deploy blue economy framework within the growth trajectory, the need to overlay blue economy with Agenda 2030 is imperative for the success of both. There are various definitions of blue economy, however what underpins every definition is the core pillars of economic growth, social development, security paradigm and sustainable development.

Since the exploitation of coasts and oceans has been increasing in the past few decades due to factors like growing global population, mounting pressure on the existing resource base and increasing access to coastal and marine environments, it has now become evident to follow a path of sustainable development through blue economy. Out of all the continents, Asia-Pacific covers both a large portion of land and sea coastline of the world. It possesses some of the most ecologically and economically important sea areas of the world which provide a rich array of services that directly and indirectly contribute to human survival and quality of life, supporting local coastal communities and their larger national economies. The scope of blue economy is thus large in Asia.

In this context, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) with support of KAS Regional Project Energy Security and Climate Change Asia-Pacific (RECAP) in association with Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) will be organizing a two-day workshop on the topic “Opportunities and Challenges for a Blue economy in Asia-Pacific region in COVID-19 world” on 2nd and 3rd February 2021. The objective of the workshop is to examine the opportunities and challenges for Asia-Pacific Blue Economy framework that impinges on regional cooperation, resource security, science and technological cooperation and sustainable development.