The triple planetary crisis is the term the United Nations uses for three connected problems humanity faces at once: climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. Each has its own causes, but they feed into each other, and all three have to be tackled for a viable future.
The ocean and climate
The ocean is one of the planet’s main climate regulators. According to the United Nations, it has captured around 90 per cent of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions, and has absorbed between 20 and 30 per cent of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s. The ocean also produces around half of the planet’s oxygen.
That service comes at a cost to the ocean itself. Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency since 1982, threatening marine ecosystems.
The ocean and biodiversity
Marine life is concentrated in some of the most vulnerable places. Coral reefs cover less than 0.1 per cent of the ocean, yet support more than a quarter of marine biodiversity. Overfishing and habitat loss are among the drivers of biodiversity decline the UN identifies, and both are ocean problems as much as land ones.
The ocean and pollution
Pollution is the third part of the crisis. The UN describes air pollution as the largest single cause of disease and premature death, and pollution in all its forms adds to the pressure on ecosystems already strained by warming and habitat loss, including those at sea.
Why this matters for the blue economy
An economy that depends on the sea cannot treat these crises as someone else’s problem. Achieving growth and addressing the triple planetary crisis requires collaboration and innovation across industry, science, non-profits and government.
That is the reason Mereweg exists: to help England’s blue economy grow in a way that protects the ocean it relies on, rather than drawing it down.
