Blue economy or blue growth as a concept came from a book written by Gunter Pauli. It is a relatively new concept that internationally came to light in 2012. It refers to strategic and sustainable use of marine resources for the development of the economy and the well-being of human beings. It offers a green approach to meet the aspirations of mankind. Blue economy involves the integration of ocean economy development with the principles of social inclusion, environmental sustainability and innovative dynamic business models such as the creation of environment-friendly infrastructures in the oceans.
A sustainable blue economy is very important because the sectors involved in the oceans, coasts and maritime environment are so diverse that if one industry goes for it exploits it and makes a lot of money it can destroy other industries. Thus, it is very important that a balance is created and sustainable development is maintained because particularly environmental tourism and nature tourism which are very large areas of those industries at the moment and particularly the coastal regions can be threatened. So, investment is needed in sustainable solutions and quick gains must be discarded in the favor of long-term goals. We should make sure that we responsibly use our shared resources, for both our present and future generations.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BLUE ECONOMY

There are countless benefits that we gain from the oceans in our daily life but we do not realize it. Oceans contribute about 3-5% of global GDP. They are a vital source of our food, annually fishing industry alone generates $80 billion. Oceans two biggest economic benefits are trade and employment which have always led to the exploitation of oceans. According to an estimate of 2010, blue economy added $ 1.5 trillion to world GDP while it directly employed 31000,000 individuals. Whereas, in 2016 according to FAO estimate fisheries and aqua culture involved 59.6 million people. Hence it represents an immense employment sector around the world whether directly or indirectly even in Europe alone blue sector offers 3,362510 jobs in 9 different sectors. About 90% of world trade takes place through oceans. Blue economy drives socio-economic benefits for present and future generations. Major states realized the importance of blue economy and engaged in activities to realize this idea for instance World Bank has initiated a program with name ‘PROBLUE’ to explore the opportunities of blue economy and ways for renewable and sustainable development of this economy.

OPPORTUNITIES

Sea and inland waters give noteworthy advantages to humankind. But keeping in view the current environmental degradation, this crucial asset is being deteriorating quickly with overfishing, contamination from land-based sources and overconsumption. Consequently, harnessing the maximum capacity of the seas and inland waters require policies and programs that are ecologically, socially and economically sustainable. There is a wide accord that Blue Economy can satisfy the necessities of increasing global demand for resources. This has been emphasized by many international forums, for example, OECD, UNEP and FAO. Few of the opportunities that can open up new avenues in blue economy are Marine Aquaculture, Marine Transport, Offshore wind energy, Offshore oil, Bio prospecting and Marine Tourism.

SCOPE OF BLUE ECONOMY FOR PAKISTAN

Pakistan has marine area of 290,000 square km which makes up to 36.4% of the country’s territory. If the maritime area of Pakistan were a land piece, then it would be a little greater than Punjab province. This tells that Pakistan has blessed blue economic zone. The all-year functional seaport of Karachi and Port Qasim and world’s deepest port Gwadar with its strategic location add more to its significance. Despite all this, unfortunately, Pakistan suffers from what we call sea blindness. Some of the prospects for blue economy in Pakistan are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Pakistan’s multibillion-dollar CPEC project is being hailed as a watershed moment in the country’s blue growth. The CPEC is regarded as the jugular vein of China’s multitrillion-dollar BRI initiative. Moreover, Pakistan’s blue economy can greatly benefit from energy production from its seas and coast. One form of energy called tidal energy is gaining great interest. Utilizing this energy could be a renewable source of energy for its coastal cities of Gwadar, Karachi etc. Pakistan’s National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in 1988, identified 17 coastal creeks for tidal energy. Similarly, wind energy near coastal areas, especially Balochistan are plump with strong winds. A survey identified an 18 MW energy potential on 1 km of land near the coastal belt.
It is well known that 80% – 90% of the world’s trade passes through the oceans. In the case of Pakistan, estimates put it at an astounding 95%. The shipping industry of Pakistan makes only $183 million. Compared to our South Asian neighbors, India makes $5.6 billion and Bangladesh makes $6 billion. If Pakistan inducts more ships and bridges the gap, a vast potential is present to decrease cost of imports as well as employ more Pakistanis and earn more money into the exchequer.
Ports in Pakistan are plenty but the main two ones are Karachi and Gwadar. Most of Pakistan’s trade passes through Karachi, but development of Gwadar port under CPEC has been a game-changer. Gwadar lessens the distance from more than 10,000 km to 2000 km – 3000 km. Soon afterwards, the rest of Chinese trade will go through Gwadar and Pakistan can profit greatly from all the traffic and tax.
Moreover, according to reports, we earn $100 million from our ship-breaking yards meanwhile the potential stands at $3 billion. The main issue lies with our Gadiani ship-breaking yard. Its Pakistan’s main and major ship-breaking yard, however, it is plagued with accidents, fires and deaths every few months. Low wages, poor equipment, government negligence and bad conditions pave way for an inefficient and danger prone environment. The money should be diverting to Gadiani ship-breaking yard’s upgradation and infrastructure so that Pakistan can become a top ship-breaking nation.
Pakistan’s 990 km coastal belt with a 320 nautical mile ocean claim covering 290,000 square km has a variety and excess of fish and marine life present. The government needs to tap this industry as it will prove effective for exports and domestic sales as well.
When talking about marine tourism, Pakistan must take inspiration from countries like Maldives, Sri Lanka, Philippines to develop the God gifted beautiful beaches and islands. According to experts, the total potential stands at $5 Billion for Pakistan.

Conclusion:

The political elite in Pakistan must drive their focus towards blue economy and show strong commitment and seriousness to this sector. Pakistan must invest in both intellectual and physical resources as well as needs to take ironclad measures. Challenges in this path such as poor infrastructure, red tape inside the system, bureaucratic bottlenecks, regional instability, particularly a severe law and order situation in Balochistan, and a lack of cooperation between departments and ministries must all be addressed.

The outer space arena has become more integral to the earth than ever before. The number of space assets has increased massively in the last 50 years. This rapid increase in the importance of space has led to an increase in space-faring nations which are conducting military missions in space. They operate on the principle of National Space-power which is a totality of a nation’s use of space capabilities in pursuit of national prosperity and security. This gave rise to the pursuit of space superiority through which state can deny space domain freedom of action to its adversaries which is a crucial fuel behind increasing space warfare.
Space warfare is simply a combat that takes place in outer space. This concept has its roots in the Space Race of 20th Century competition between two Cold War adversaries. Both countries developed anti-satellite weaponry along with working on information technology as well as cyber warfare and cyber security.

United States:

The United States is the current leader in the world of global space affairs. While it wasn’t the first nation to use taxpayer money for the exploration of the “unknown frontier”, it used its jealousy and fear of the Soviet Union’s space ambitions to propel itself slowly but surely to the top of the pyramid of hierarchy in space. The United States and the Soviet Union competed in the “Space Race” from the 50s to the late 80s, a global battle of wits and money, the United States was able to win the space race because of its economic capabilities and solid technical base. The United States in the modern day uses its extensive space program to support both its civil and military interests. The United States is the major participant in the International Space Station and solely operates the Global Positioning System, originally developed to provide navigational data to the US military, both for the military and civilian users. But the United States does not see its position in space as certain. Its main vulnerability in space is from incoming ballistic missiles and cyber-attacks on its civilian and military satellite infrastructure. Thus, in the current era, the US feels threatened in space from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
United States has made agencies such as the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to protect itself and its allies from missile threats emerging from space. The Agency has been to date responsible for developing and maintaining programs for missile defense. The United States has developed new military satellites and is participating with its allies in the defense of space. But by far the most important action it has taken in this regard to date has been the formation of the United States Space Force.

Russia, a state labelled as one of the two rivals of cold war and space race. The year 1957 marks the lead of Soviet Union in the space race. This was made possible when Soviet Union achieved the first successful artificial satellite launch on October 4, 1957 of Sputnik 1, and sent the first human to space with the orbital flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Russia is arguably the leading space power. It has the primacy of launching the most manned space flights than other countries combined. Secure World Foundation (SWF) is reported to have said that Russia is expanding its counter-space weapons and capabilities. Through electronic warfare, Russia is extending its anti-access/area denial approach in outer space for developing offensive capabilities against ground-based space infrastructure. It is said that Russian civilian and military space program have the potential to be matched with that of the US. Some of the Russian capabilities include Anti-Satellite Systems, Military Space-Based Systems, Imaging Satellites, Signal Intelligence and Navigation Satellites.

China:

China claims its rise as a “peaceful rise”. Pentagon is facing a fearful question that Chinese aggressive rise in space may turn out to be the weapon to bring America down. China’s space mission is particularly impressive and aggressive. There are three factors which are showing an aggressive rise from China. China is building many distinct technologies for exploring space. Secondly the extraction and transport of energy sources from space to Chinese factories. The third is to show Darwinian safety valve for the earth. China has intentions to militarize space. It has believed that there are two ways of countering US in space. One method is to destroy all of their satellites. And the other way is to blind their inspection bird in space. China has already checked several ways of implementing its strategy. China is building anti-satellite weapons to kick US GPS system out of space. It is going to pollute the space and is also building and testing space kidnappers. The main goal of China to conquer space is to track the military movement and damage the US space system.

Other emerging powers:

There are other countries who have started making their efforts for space warfare. Some of the prominent countries include UK, France, India and Iran. UK is currently investing in increasing its capabilities in space. UK’s Europe-mate France has also announced an ambitious space weapons program in 2019 for the protection of its assets in space. This includes patrolling nano-satellite swarms, ground-based laser systems to blind-spying satellites, and machine guns mounted on satellites. Moving towards the east, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps successfully launched a military satellite in 2020 to showcase Iran’s technological advancements. Previously, Iran also hacked US GPS to force land a US drone. Another emerging power India established her Defense Space Agency in 2019 & became only the fourth country in the world to shot down a satellite during her Mission Shakti. The motivation behind India’s focus towards space warfare is due to its animosity towards China & Pakistan.

Global Implications:

This securitization of outer space can lead towards a renewed space race and possibly a new Cold War based on the pursuit of space hegemony. This will have numerous global implications such as GPS failure, blackout in countries, increase in Cyberattacks & Espionage and possible cancellation of the Outer Space Treaty.

Conclusion:

As Mark Twain said “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes,” there exists a huge chance of revival of the cold war with NATO and Russia/China being the two most pivotal alliances. Therefore, the future looks dark considering the global implications of space warfare. Thus, there’s little time to dilly dally otherwise the world will suffer massively and stars wars will be our future. As it is difficult to stop proliferation later, there’s an urgent need for collective action by states because all states will be equally vulnerable to potential future threats. Therefore, states should opt for banning weaponization or at least consider placing limits on militarization in space just like arms control treaties.