Delivering Scotland's Blue Economy approach

2. Delivering the Blue Economy Vision

The development of Scotland's Blue Economy from our current status towards our vision and outcomes for the Blue Economy will require a suite of different levers, tools and interventions. Collectively, these levers, tools and interventions can be considered as 'enablers' for the Blue Economy. The Scottish Government is responsible for several Blue Economy enablers. However, achieving the Blue Economy Vision for Scotland will only be possible through collective action, with the wider public sector, private sector, voluntary organisations, community groups and the general public also developing a sense of ownership of the Blue Economy and its various enablers.

Table 2.1 sets out a comprehensive list of enablers that could be used to deliver Scotland's Blue Economy Vision. The enablers have been identified from stakeholder feedback and a review of other international Blue Economy approaches.

The international approaches that were reviewed include the:

• High Level Panel's Ocean Solutions Report
• EU's Blue Economy Policy Framework
• UN Economic Commission for Africa's Blue Economy Handbook
• Toward a Blue Economy: A Promise for Sustainable Growth in the Caribbean
• Union for the Mediterranean's Declaration on a Sustainable Blue Economy

For each enabler, we have undertaken an assessment of its associated ownership and link to Scotland's Blue Economy outcomes. The top two ranked delivery mechanisms by stakeholders were scientific research and innovation and marine planning.

Table 2.1: Enablers for Scotland's Blue Economy Vision and Outcomes. See Box 1 for key to Blue Economy outcomes

Enabler category:

Regulatory and management

Enablers:

Marine Planning

Primary owners:

National Governments

Additional owners:

Local Government, Regional Planning Partnerships

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Incentivising co-location of marine industries

Primary owners:

National Governments, Local Government, Regional Planning Partnerships

Additional owners:

Private Sector, Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1, EN2, EC1, EC2

Enablers:

Regulatory reform

Primary owners:

National Governments, Local Government

Additional owners:

Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Maritime surveillance and enforcement

Primary owners:

National Governments

Additional owners:

Universities, Academic and Innovation community

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1, EC2

Enabler category:

Ensuring nature is on a more equal footing to economic and social considerations

Enablers:

Embedding circular economy and zero waste principles

Primary owners:

Private Sector, National Governments, Local Government

Additional owners:

Civil Society, Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1, EN2, EC1

Enablers:

Use of natural capital approaches and accounting

Primary owners:

National Governments, Private Sector

Additional owners:

Local Government, Civil Society

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Managing ocean pollution, including from land sources

Primary owners:

National and Local Government, Private Sector, Civil Society

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1

Enablers:

Ecosystem restoration and conservation

Primary owners:

National Governments, Local Government, Other Public Sector

Additional owners:

Voluntary Organisations, Civil Society, Private Sector, Universities, Academic and Innovation community

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1

Enabler category:

Investment and Economic Development

Enablers:

Sustainable finance, incentivising and de-risking investment

Primary owners:

National Governments, Local Government, Private Sector

Additional owners:

Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Building & investing in national supply chains

Primary owners:

Private Sector, National Governments and Local Government

Additional owners:

Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EC1, EC2, SO1

Enablers:

Increasing the market visibility of Blue Economy products and services

Primary owners:

Private Sector, National Government, Other Public Sector

Additional owners:

Local Government

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EC1, EC2, SO1

Enablers:

Maximising the cross-market opportunities for Blue Economy products and services

Primary owners:

Private Sector, National Governments, Other Public Sector

Additional owners:

Local Government

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EC1, EC2, SO1

Enablers:

Use of data and digitalisation across the Blue Economy

Primary owners:

All Sectors

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Infrastructure development

Primary owners:

Private Sector

Additional owners:

Local Government, National Government

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN2, EC1, EC2, SO1

Enabler category:

Science and skills development

Enablers:

Scientific research and innovation

Primary owners:

Universities, Academic and Innovation Community, Funding Agencies

Additional owners:

Private Sector, National Government, Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Ocean monitoring and observation

Primary owners:

Universities, Academic and Innovation Community, National Government

Additional owners:

Private Sector, Civil Society, Voluntary Organisations, Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1, EN2, EC1, EC2

Enablers:

Skills, education and training

Primary owners:

All Sectors

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enabler category:

Collaborations and participation

Enablers:

Civic engagement and participatory decision making

Primary owners:

National Governments, Local Government, Civil Society

Additional owners:

Private Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Increasing community engagement within Blue Economy sectors

Primary owners:

Local Government, National Government, Civil Society

Additional owners:

Voluntary Organisations, Other Public Sector

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

EN1, SO1

Enablers:

International collaborations

Primary owners:

National Local Government, Private Sector, Universities, Academic and Innovation Community, International Organisations

Additional owners:

Voluntary Organisations

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

Enablers:

Public-private partnerships

Primary owners:

National Governments, Other Public Sector, Private Sector, Local Government

Additional owners:

Universities, Academic and Innovation Community

Primary alignment to Blue Economy outcome:

Cross-cutting

The enablers shown in Table 2.1 do not represent specific individual actions, but rather broad categories of areas for action. Each enabler can support progress towards one or more of the Blue Economy outcomes, and could act synergistically across multiple marine industries. Some enablers, such as the use of natural capital approaches and accounting, represent new ways of working and will require a process of development before they can be fully implemented in our Blue Economy approach. However, for other enablers, the Scottish Government has already identified and committed to immediate next steps that will support progress towards our outcomes. Section 3 of this document sets out in more detail the enablers and associated actions already under way in relation to the six Blue Economy outcomes.

In the remainder of this section, we explore in more depth how four of these enablers support the delivery of our Blue Economy outcomes and Vision. The four enablers that we have focussed on are:

• natural capital approaches to decision making
• infrastructure development, with a focus on ports and harbours
• use of data and digitalisation across the Blue Economy
• skills, education and lifelong learning

The four focus areas represent enablers where either a significant gap or challenge has been identified in our current use of the enabler and/or where a substantial opportunity to use the enabler to provide broad support across all six Blue Economy outcomes exists. In selecting these four enablers, we have used feedback from roundtable discussions with key public bodies that will be important delivery partners for Scotland's Blue Economy approach. These bodies are the Crown Estate Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, NatureScot, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The four focus areas have not been chosen to represent the Scottish Government's immediate, or only, priorities for the Blue Economy going forward. Instead, they serve as an initial exploration into delivering our Blue Economy outcomes, which will allow us to take forward further discussions on how we can use different delivery mechanisms and which enablers will prove most effective in achieving our outcomes.

Delivery focus 1: natural capital approach to decision making

Rationale: Scotland has rich natural capital assets, including land, air, water, soil, minerals and biodiversity. We have committed to increasing natural capital through our National Performance Framework and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, including a target of "Rebuilding Scotland's natural capital by 2032". Our Wellbeing Economy Monitor tracks the status of natural capital and uses it as a measure of economic success, beyond GDP.

The Blue Economy will further develop marine natural capital approaches as a framework to balance economic, social and environmental goals. Adopting a natural capital approach will mean tracking the overall status of marine natural capital stocks, and accounting for the potential impacts of decisions on the capacity of nature to provide us with monetary and non-monetary benefits. This will improve the sustainability and effectiveness of our policy choices, and secure the long-term future of economic and societal resources.

How could a natural capital approach deliver the Blue Economy outcomes?

EN1 Blue Economy Outcome – Natural Capital Outcome

• Tracking the status of natural capital provides a way to measure if enough is being done to safeguard existing natural capital, and restore and recover previous loss and degradation.
• A natural capital approach helps stimulate further actions to enhance and restore marine biodiversity through clearer recognition of economic and social dependence on nature.
• The natural capital approach identifies non-monetary and monetary benefits of environmental goods and services, so that they can be considered to help minimise the negative impacts of decisions on natural capital assets.
• Measuring the impact of activities on natural capital assets will help facilitate businesses and marine managers to better safeguard natural capital and ecosystem function.

EN2 Blue Economy Outcome – Net-Zero/Climate Change Outcome

• Measuring and tracking natural capital assets will help to identify the scale and trends of climate regulating and carbon sequestration services provided by our marine natural capital.
• A natural capital approach can inform management decisions to increase climate change resilience and support planning for climate adaptation to address risks and opportunities.

EC1 & 2 Blue Economy Outcomes – Economic & Trade / Food Security & Nutrition Outcomes

• Natural capital underpins all economic activity. A natural capital approach helps realign incentives towards nature protection and restoration, and away from activities causing degradation that reduces the long-term capacity of nature to support economic activity.
• Incentivising responsible private investment in natural capital will focus investment in the right types of natural capital in the right places such as in nature-based solutions that bring benefits for the environment, the economy and society as a whole.

SO1 Blue Economy Outcome – Social Inclusion/Equalities Outcome

• A natural capital approach and responsible private investment, can secure direct and indirect long-term benefits of nature for communities e.g. via wellbeing benefits of accessing the marine environment, through Fair Work and incentivising community ownership.
• Natural capital assessments and monitoring can improve communication of the benefits of investing in maintaining natural capital in a good state to allow wider benefits to be realised.

SO2 Blue Economy Outcome – Ocean Literacy Outcome

• Wider ocean literacy can be achieved through communication of potential impacts on groups from natural capital degradation, protection or enhancement in management decisions.

Graphic text below:

Components of a successful marine natural capital approach

• A natural approach is embedded within management and planning processes
• Being able to measure and assess marine natural capital stocks (quantity and quality)
• Having clear expectations on marine natural capital protection and / or enhancement
• Business and marine users invest responsibly in natural capital stocks

Natural Capital Delivery Toolbox

• A range of existing guidelines and tools that are available to support early implementation of natural capital approaches are listed below.
• Scottish Government Interim Priciples for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital
• DEFRA Guidance on Enabling a Natural Capital Approach
• DEFRA Environmental Valuation Look up tool
• Ecosystem Services Valuation Database
• UN Rapid Natural Capital Accounting Tool
• UK Marine Natural Capital Accounts

Challenges to implementation

• Data gaps on the location, and status of marine natural capital assets.
• Participation, engagement and collaborative working with and between marine users and sectors, and other relevant groups.
• Building a wider understanding of natural capital to ensure ownership across those who are impacted or interested.
• Valuing indirect and diffuse benefits of nature, and integrating qualitative information in decision-making processes
• Having aligned scales of ambition across those implementing natural capital policies and decisions.
• Knowing the right solutions and places for private investment in natural capital to increase the overall stock of natural assets and support a proactive approach.

Delivery focus 2: infrastructure development – ports & harbours

Ports & harbours are a primary enabler across four outcomes, including environmental, social and economic outcomes. They also enable clean ecosystems & ocean literacy

Rationale: Physical infrastructure underpins nearly all Blue Economy sectors. Housing, transport and communication infrastructure are needed to accommodate local workers, facilitate market access and support supply chain logistics. Effective waste facilities are needed for clean ecosystems, while improvements in infrastructure can benefit coastal communities.

Ports & harbours are key Blue Economy infrastructure. Insufficient port capacity can already disrupt marine supply chains, and there is an expectation that further adaptation and development will be required. Challenges to port development include: large upfront costs, complex environmental and social impacts and climate vulnerability. Enhancing strategic join up, de-risking investments and making ports & harbours sustainable and climate-smart is key to delivery of Blue Economy outcomes.

How could ports and harbours deliver the Blue Economy outcomes?

EN2 Blue Economy Outcome – Net-Zero/Climate Change Outcome

• Upgrading/developing ports will enable growth of offshore renewables and support oil and gas decommissioning. Ports are needed to support manufacture, assembly, operation and maintenance of Scotland's offshore wind sector.
• Installing recharging and refuelling infrastructure for alternative fuels in ports and cargo terminals, including for docked vessels, can support transition to low-carbon shipping and fisheries, and significantly improve the air quality in coastal communities.

EC1 Blue Economy Outcome – Economic and Trade outcome

• Development of port infrastructure will underpin sustainable trade routes, and enhance potential direct trade options with the European Union.
• Port developments can streamline supply chain logistics to increase productivity and resilience while minimising emissions and supporting circular economy opportunities.

EC2 Blue Economy Outcomes – Food Security/Nutrition/Health Outcomes

• Investment in ports & harbours can enhance facilities for seafood landings, sales and processing, helping with quality improvement targets and supporting improved traceability.
• Increasing capacity will support seaborne transport for aquaculture, and enable sustainable aquaculture growth in remote and rural areas with limited road networks.
• Alongside physical inspections at sea, continuing to use ports for inspection and enforcement reduces illegal fishing practices and enhances traceability to ensure value chain reinforcement.

SO1 Blue Economy Outcome – Social Inclusion/Equalities Outcome

• Ports can drive local development and foster social benefits through local employment, embedding Fair Work, improving island connectivity and direct seafood market access.
• Ports & harbours support marine recreation, hold cultural and heritage value, and can support community-ownership of renewables.

EN1 & SO2 Blue Economy Outcomes – Natural Capital/Environment and Ocean Literacy

• Port development can contribute to improving ecosystem health through waste handling, noise reduction measures and by planning high traffic shipping lanes to accounting for marine mammals, amongst other measures
• Ports & harbours can play a leading and proactive role in raising civic engagement with the Blue Economy and supporting environmental restoration and recovery.
• Ports & harbour developments may also provide opportunities to enhance marine science and environmental surveillance capacity.

Challenges for Ports and Harbours in the Blue Economy

• Lack of strategic oversight on potential ports specialisms based on demand, location and resource can lead to competition, sub-optimal sighting and challenges in integrated port management.
• Development requires a long lead in time and large up front investments. Expansion or upgrade decisions are based on business confidence in future demand, which requires long-term priority setting from the Government.
• Complexities of international, regional, and national regulations - e.g. lack of international standards for cold ironing, working across marine and terrestrial planning systems.
• Ports & harbours are vulnerable to climate change. Severe disruptions due to extreme weather can be expected in the future, which could cause significant operational delays and damage.
• Overlap between suitable locations and vulnerable, highly protected marine species and habitats, that provide natural resilience to sea level rise, storm surge and flooding.

Toolbox & immediate opportunities

• Consideration of Hub models and placed-based approaches: Policies or best practice guidelines on supporting private investments that involve communities, local councils and other developers, e.g. housing, can ensure that economic opportunities from ports trickle down to local economies, and that port operations can be balanced with other local ocean activities and environmental concerns.
• Embracing novel financing models that can simulate private investment, including in the local workforce and skills development. The Scottish National Investment Bank, which seeks to invest where there is insufficient private sector investment, recently provided £30 million for the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour.

Hunterston PARC: A Blue Economy Case Study

Hunterston PARC is seeking to adopt a Blue Economy approach in developing a local hub centred around port infrastructure. Hunterston has been identified as a key deep-water resource with significant potential to support transport, food and energy sectors. Peel Ports Group, in partnership with North Ayrshire Council and Scottish Enterprise, are proposing to develop a Port and Research campus with integrated rail connections, centred on a 320-acre brownfield site at Hunterston. The assets at Hunterston will sit within a wider Blue Economy strategy emerging through the Ayrshire Growth Deal and relating to the emerging project development for the International Marine Science and Environment Centre at Ardrossan.

By embedding business incubator space, innovation and university infrastructure, the developers are seeking to provide high quality, long term jobs, and build a more resilient local economy. The development is intending to use natural capital accounting processes as part of the wider strategic thinking linked to environmental considerations, alongside statutory environmental obligations. This will support application and use of digital technology within the marine environment to create capacity for research, development, monitoring to drive innovation and maximise the impact of the marine environment for socio-economic benefit and environmental benefit.

Delivery focus 3: data & digitalisation in the Blue Economy

Rationale: The volume of data on the marine environment is increasing exponentially. Sustained ocean observations, combined with local and traditional knowledge, underpin the operations in nearly all Blue Economy sectors, marine management decisions and environmental protection. Digital technologies including autonomous platforms, blockchain technology, machine learning, and simulation & visualisation techniques have versatile marine applications and are already being applied by industry, government and research scientists. Harnessing these advances to create a 'Digital Ocean' presents a significant opportunity within the Blue Economy that can deliver innovation, create jobs, improve safety, protect marine heritage and nature, enhance civic engagement with our seas and support adaptive and transparent decision-making.

However, significant challenges must be overcome to capitalise on the revolutions in ocean observations, data and digital technology. These challenges include improving data access, understanding data value and user needs, ensuring quality assurance standards, transforming real-time information to actionable forms, and incentivising the use of digital technology.

How could data and digitalisation deliver the Blue Economy outcomes?

EN1 Blue Economy Outcome – Natural Capital Outcome

• Digitalisation will expand the spatial and temporal scale of ocean observations and improve understanding of ecosystem processes and functioning, as well as the overall environmental status. This will support decision-making that protects and enhances our marine natural capital.
• Satellites and other digital technology enable near real-time information flows that could improve oversight of human activities and supports responsive marine management and enforcement.

EN2 Blue Economy Outcome – Climate Change Outcome

• Accelerating digitalisation within all lifecycle stages of offshore renewable developments will drive efficiency and support growth of the industry. Digitalised offshore energy systems are needed to integrate low carbon technologies into our energy system.
• Sustained ocean observations are critical for understanding the role of the seas in capturing of atmospheric greenhouse gases, and to forecast and measure the impacts of climate changes.
• Data systems can support traceability of resources through supply chains and the fate of any residual waste. Understanding inefficiencies provides corporate social responsibility and financial incentives to divert waste from landfill and reduce the use of virgin materials.

EC1 Blue Economy Outcomes – Economic & Trade Outcome

• Improving ocean communications, smart technology, and the use of 'digital twins' in marine businesses can reduce operational risk, optimise production through scenario planning and highlight opportunities to improve efficiency through combining cross-operator activities.
• Digital technologies can support marine industries through improved business intelligence tools to better understand demand, supply, markets and networks, and by increasing the visibility of market opportunities across the Blue Economy.
• For the maritime sector, implementing digital technologies can support transport cost reduction, and decrease harmful emissions generated during the voyage and at the berth.

EC2 Blue Economy Outcomes – Food Security & Nutrition Outcome

• Digital technology can support seafood traceability and sustainability certification across the value chain, ensuring Scottish seafood retains premium value in domestic and export markets.
• Near real time environmental information flows - e.g. of harmful algal blooms, sea lice outbreaks and storm events - can support responsive management and operations in the seafood sector.

SO1 & SO2 Blue Economy Outcomes – Social Inclusion/Equalities & Ocean Literacy Outcome

• Integration of data streams relating to nature, heritage, people and economy can support the overall Blue Economy Vision and empower communities, especially to implement the "just" aspect of transition activities. Digital tools can also modernise and grow stakeholder engagement, including inclusion of younger people.
• Openness of data and data literacy can enhance ocean literacy across society.

Challenges for data and digitalisation in the Blue Economy

• Assuring data quality & ensuring trust in data
• Overcoming commercial sensitivity issues and enabling access to data held by governments and industry
• Priority setting to guide investment and ensure the necessary resource and infrastructure to convert data into information, and thus actions/decisions
• Integrating data and digital technology across different data types, and across research, government, private sector and society
• A lack of institutional readiness to deal with the growing volume and frequency of data collection, and costs of digital technology
• Ensuring that uncertainty and data deficiencies do not prevent timely decision making
• Understanding baselines in environmental variables and sectoral activity when setting strategic policy or taking management decisions

Toolbox & immediate opportunities

• Marine Scotland Information –web portal proving access to descriptions and information about Scottish marine environment. Links to dataset and maps
• MEDIN - a single point of access for marine datasets & data standards organisation.
• Scottish Government Digital Development Loans to improve capabilities of SMEs
• Data and digitalisation support from innovation network e.g. Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Data & Digitalisation Services & Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre
• The Global Ocean Observing System Framework for Ocean Observing
• OECD Value Chains in public marine data
• Scottish Government Digital Strategy

Data for Net Zero: A case study

The Scottish Government is supporting a programme of research projects as part of the Net Zero Technology Centre led Data for Net Zero (D4NZ) project. With data science, visualisation, and computer modelling at its core, the D4NZ project will utilise the National Decommissioning Centre's simulator to power forward a reimagined offshore energy system enabled by data sharing and evidence-based decision-making.

The Scottish Government has invested over £4.5 million in the National Decommissioning Centre, alongside additional funding through our £125 million commitment to the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

Delivery focus 4: future skills and life long learning

Rationale: A competitive, resilient and socially fair Blue Economy needs highly qualified and skilled professionals. Yet, today, many Blue Economy sectors have difficulties finding the right people, which hampers their growth. A skills gap between education offers and labour market needs, especially with regards to technological developments and innovation, has been recognised across Scotland's Blue Economy. Similarly, many Blue Economy jobs are viewed as unattractive and/or people lack awareness of the potential career opportunities in the Blue Economy.

Supporting cooperation projects between business and education, at local, regional or transnational level, and targeted actions to close the skills gap, tackle unemployment and raise the attractiveness of "blue careers" among students and young professionals is key to delivering Scotland's Blue Economy outcomes. Ensuring that people have the right skills to work in Blue Economy sectors will also diversify the employment opportunities in rural economies and support the resilience of coastal and island communities.

Marine skills and training in Argyll: A case study

The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Argyll College, is delivering a series of enterprising initiatives in education that support place-based learning through marine sectors.

In 2021, with funding support from Skills Development Scotland, Argyll College UHI helped to design a new aquaculture pilot programme for secondary school pupils, called Intro Aquaculture. The course was co-funded and delivered by Scottish Sea Farms to S5 and S6 pupils at Tobermory High School. The course provided students with an opportunity to gain industry-recognised qualifications in boat handling and first aid, and valuable workplace experience alongside classroom teaching. The success at Tobermory has led to two other schools in Argyll introducing the course into their curriculum this year. Argyll College UHI, Scottish Sea Farms and the Scottish Government are now considering whether the course can be integrated into the Foundation Apprenticeship scheme. The Intro Aquaculture course complements other schemes across Argyll, including the modern apprenticeship scheme and range of SVQs available in Aquaculture Management. This approach is providing a pathway for high quality rural jobs in Scotland's Blue Economy for all, including for school leavers and those looking to re-skill later in life. The success of this approach has been recognised at the Awards for Land-Based and Aquaculture skills, organised by LANTRA, the sector skills council for the land-based, aquaculture and environmental conservation industries.