The wealth of the world's oceans is dwindling

NZ's entire marine estate, including territorial sea and an area of continental shelf, totals nearly six million square kilometres. Photo / Getty Images

The commercial value of the Earth's oceans currently measures up to the world's leading economies. However, a new report indicates that wealth is rapidly decreasing - and it's up to humanity to avoid the destruction of the ocean environment.

'Reviving the Ocean Economy: The case for action - 2015' is a report produced by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in association with the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and the Boston Consulting Group. It analyses the factors threatening to cause the collapse of the oceans' economic powerhouse.

A conservative estimate of the value of key ocean assets came to the equivalent of over NZ$30 trillion. The report estimated the annual value of goods and services from the ocean amounts to about NZ$3.3 trillion - which, when compared to the world's largest economies, would rank the oceans as seventh.

'Reviving the Ocean Economy' is the most focused review ever of the oceans' asset base. It looked at economic factors ranging from fisheries to coastal storm protection, and simultaneously observed an ignorance of oceanic sustainability by humankind. Over-exploitation, irresponsible use and climate change are all a threat to its continued production of resources.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, says we need to take responsibility and action.

"As responsible shareholders, we cannot seriously expect to keep recklessly extracting the ocean's valuable assets without investing in its future."

The report indicates the maintenance of more than two-thirds of the annual value of the sea relies on the right environmental conditions. WWF observe this is not being helped by collapsing fisheries, mangrove deforestation, dying corals and disintegrating ecosystems.

"We hope this serves as a call for business leaders and policymakers to make wiser, more calculated decisions when it comes to shaping the future of our collective ocean economy," says Douglas Beal, Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group.

'Reviving the Ocean Economy' also demonstrates the ocean is changing more rapidly now than at any other point in literally millions of years. Meanwhile, the unprecedented growth of the human populations means it's increasingly in its interest as a species to sustain ocean ecosystems for continuing economic benefit, and ultimately its prosperity and survival.

WWF-New Zealand Head of Campaigns Peter Hardstaff says the report should be particularly interesting to New Zealand's politicians and policymakers. The country possesses the fifth largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world, and the value of its marine environment's goods and services is estimated to be NZ$403 billion annually. That's roughly twice the size of New Zealand's gross domestic product.

"But this precious resource is under threat," Mr Hardstaff says. "Our island nation is well-placed to turn this risk into opportunity, by demonstrating global leadership on sustainable ocean management.

"The bottom line is simple. We need to invest in healthy, productive seas if we want to secure a healthy, prosperous future for New Zealanders."

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