[Coral-List] NEW PAPER - Getting to 2030 - scaling effort to ambition through a narrative model of the SDGs (with a coral reef focus!!)

[David Obura]

Dear coral-list colleagues,

I all are staying safe and well under these unusual conditions!

This is to announce my new paper published in Marine Policy journal supporting engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals from the perspective of any actor, even to local levels, to generate action. It is based on the coral reef and blue economy context in East Africa, but is more broadly relevant. The abstract is below.

Journal link - (free download for 50 days) -https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1a%7EKV,714MctWS
CORDIO online resources, including a press release -https://cordioea.net/sdgmodel/

I hope you enjoy the paper and find it interesting, and that it helps in any actions you might be involved in for rallying/aligning support for coral reef conservation, not least in conjunction with health considerations that will be top of the agenda for the coming year at least.

It also targets the need to make our data, whether biophysical or socio-economic, align with the major data streams and policy priorities leading towards SDG, CBD and other policy reporting processes that are data-hungry. While marine data is always lacking, coral reef data (biophysical more than social/economic) is in fact quite advanced compared to other tropical coastal systems, and there are massive opportunities to improve and upscale in coming years.

Sincerely, David Obura


TITLE: Getting to 2030 - scaling effort to ambition through a narrative model of the SDGs

ABSTRACT: The Sustainable Development Goals express a narrative about the relationships between people and nature. This paper builds a narrative from an ocean perspective – through the lens of a coral reef seascape, and the blue economy. The ocean, intimately connected with the land, freshwater flows and climate provides a vast array of benefits to humanity. These benefits are valued at trillions of dollars per year globally, supporting hundreds of millions of jobs, and contributing to all countries both coastal and inland, through living and non-living resources, transport infrastructure and natural products, and sustainable energy solutions; the coastal zone is home to half the world’s population. Through these direct benefits, the ocean contributes to reduced hunger and poverty, improved health, and all these benefits may be shared across gender, social and national boundaries. However accessing ocean benefits results in pressures that may drive decline in ocean health. Managing this complex system for a sustainable blue economy requires developing and using the right knowledge, new governance mechanisms and investment by stakeholders from global to local levels. This ‘blue economy’ narrative builds on the links between ocean health (SDG14) and economy (SDG8), but the general model can be expressed from the perspective of any goal(s) towards the others. The model also applies across scales from local to global, the relationships defined in the model enabling monitoring and assessment. The model can thus help align global instruments such as the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework with Agenda 2030, and linking from national to grassroots levels.

David Obura || CORDIO East Africa, #9 Kibaki Flats, Kenyatta Beach, Bamburi Beach, P.O.BOX 10135 Mombasa 80101, Kenya
Email: dobura at cordioea.net  --  davidobura at gmail.com
Websites: www.cordioea.net  --   www.wiofutures.net  --  www.coralspecialistgroup.org
Mobile: +254-715 067417; skype dobura; Twitter @dobura