BLUE ECONOMY - CONCEPT, STATE AND PERSPECTIVES

The concept of the blue economy is a key factor in global economies. The importance of the ocean for sustainable development was recognized in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and reaffirmed in 2012 in the final document of the Rio + 20 Conference. The blue economy is part of Sustainable Development Goal 14, and the ocean is becoming a new lever of growth at the international level. In addition, the European Commission points out that when comparing the world's "blue economy" with national economies, the blue economy would be the seventh largest in the world, and as an economic entity would be a member of the G7. Numerically, the blue economy represents 2.5% of global GDP and employs around 1.5% of the global workforce. Within the European Union, the established sectors of the blue economy directly employed almost 4.5 million people and generated a turnover of about 652 billion in 2019. It is a part of the economy whose scope is wider than normal business because it views sectoral growth and ocean health as compatible. In addition to the traditional blue sectors, the European Commission encourages the development of sectors based on new technologies and innovations. However, the heterogeneous understanding of what the blue economy involves makes it difficult to interpret what a sustainable blue economy should be, and since the concept of the blue economy is rooted in several different disciplines, its impact transcends established sectors and development ideas transcend ecological and planetary boundaries. Therefore, this paper explains the concept of the blue economy, its state and characteristics in the last thirty years. Specifically, various definitions of a sustainable blue economy are analyzed and its key sectors are identified. Furthermore, the connection between the blue economy and the goals of sustainable development is emphasized, and the inconsistency between the concepts is pointed out, which gives rise to the problem of conflicting goals. Also, a chronological overview of the strategic framework of the blue economy in the context of the European Union from 2005 to 2021 is given, and a descriptive analysis of EU blue economy indicators (based on the Blue indicators online dashboard) for the period from 2009 to 2019.