Social license and ocean biodiversity U. Rashid Sumaila

Transcription

1 Social license and ocean biodiversity U. Rashid Sumaila Fisheries Economics Research Unit The Global Fisheries Cluster UBC Oceans and Fisheries Vancouver, Canada Royal Society of Canada Annual Symposium, Victoria, Nov 26, 2015

2 Outline of talk Social license what is that? Ocean biodiversity under threat current management not that successful; Can social license help protect ocean biodiversity? Concluding remarks.

3 What is social license? Refers to a local community s acceptance or approval of a company s project or ongoing presence in an area; It occurs outside of formal permitting or regulatory processes; Can be granted only by the community. D. Varkey

4 What is social license? It is informal and intangible; Can be difficult to determine when it has been granted; It may manifest itself in a number of ways: Ranging from absence of opposition to vocal support or even advocacy by the community. D. Varkey

5 What is social license? It requires sustained investment by proponents to acquire and maintain; It is built on trust-based relations; It can be realised through timely and effective communication, meaningful dialogue, ethical and responsible behaviour. D. Varkey

6 The social license to Operate You don t get your social license by going to a government ministry and making an application or simply paying a fee It requires far more than money to truly become part of the communities in which you operate. (Pierre Lassonde, President of Newmont Mining Corporation). D. Varkey

7 Ocean biodiversity under threat

8 Ocean biodiversity under threat

9 Climate change impacts Physical/Chemical changes in the ocean Biological / ecological changes in the ocean Sea temperature; acidification; Δ ocean current pattern; Δ salinity; retreat of sea ice; coastal hypoxic & oxygen min. zone; sea level. INDIVIDUAL POPULATION COMMUNITY ECOSYSTEM Physiology; Growth; & Body size. Distribution; Abundance; & Recruitment. Species composition; Invasion/extinction. Productivity; & Species interaction. Cheung, Watson & Pauly (2012): Nature

10 Examples of unsustainability About 20% of the original area of coral reefs lost (Wilkinson, 2008); Sea grasses are disappearing at a rate of 110km 2 yr -1 since 1980 (Waycott, 2009); Seaweeds in Zanzibar dying climate change blamed; huge economic and social consequences for many on the island; Habitat destruction from bottom trawling.

11 Ocean biodiversity is important to us 60% of the world s population lives within 60 km of the coast; 50% of the oxygen we breathe generated by the ocean; Regulation of earth s climate; Crucial for the Earth s environmental balance & survival.

12 Ocean biodiversity is important to us Food and nutritional security; Economic security; Job & social security; Recreational and cultural values; Ecosystem function and service. D. Varkey L.Teh

13 Catch (million tonnes) Effort (GW or watts x 10 9 ) On overfishing Catch FAO Fisheries Statistics Year *Effective effort indexed on 2000 based on average 2.42% increase annually

14 Catch (million tonnes) Effort (GW or watts x 10 9 ) On overfishing Catch Effective effort* Watson et al. (2013) Year *Effective effort indexed on 2000 based on average 2.42% increase annually

15 Impact on food & nutritional security Potential catch loss by region of the world Srinivasan, Sumaila et al. (2010)

16 Percent Impact on economic security Pre-tax profit share of sales for 1000 fishing companies Sumaila et al. (2012): PLoS One

17 India China Indonesia Bangladesh Vietnam Philippines Pakistan Myanmar Nigeria Thailand Employment (million jobs) Potential impacts on job & social security million people worldwide involved in marine fisheries, including direct and indirect sector Total Direct Indirect 0 Top 10 countries providing marine employment Teh and Sumaila (2011): Fish and Fisheries

18 Can social license help protect ocean biodiversity?

19 Because there is one interconnected global ocean A broader definition of community is needed: Local community; A community of citizens of a country; A community of citizens of a region; A community of global citizens.

20 Overfishing, mining, oil spills, plastics, fish farms L.Teh

21 There is one global ocean High seas Exclusive economic zones

22 Ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation The ocean has become: warmer (an increase in average temperature of 0.2 o C at the top 300 m of the ocean between the 1950s and1990s); with less sea-ice (summer Arctic sea ice extent is decreasing at 7.4% per decade); more acidic; less oxygenated in some area, higher sea level, changes in primary productivity.

23 Subsidy estimates ($USD Billions) Tackling policy failures such as the provision of harmful subsidies Beneficial Capacity-enhancing Ambiguous Developing countries Developed countries Sumaila et al. (2010): J. Bioeconomics

24 Stopping illegal fishing Number of incriminated vessels fishing illegally between 1980 and 2003 Sumaila et al. (2006): Marine Policy

25 Concluding remarks For social license to significantly contribute to the conservation of ocean biodiversity, the concept of community needs to be broaden to include local, national, regional and global communities; This would allow social license to complement regulatory license at all scales in a comprehensive manner.

26 Thanks for your attention and invitation