Sustainable Development Initiatives Of Bangladesh

We live in a blue world, surrounded by the blue Ocean, the living mysteries.

- AKM Monowar Hossain Akhand

According to the UN IOC-UNESCO, the ocean covers 71% of the planet’s surface. It feeds us, protects us, and absorbs more than 90% of the excess heat generated by global warming. The ocean is a source of economic, social, and cultural wealth that cannot be estimated; 3.0 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Still, people are far from understanding the ocean’s wideness; around 80% of the ocean floor remains unmapped, and an estimated 1.0 million species have yet to be discovered.

According to the predictions, tropical corals may disappear by the turn of the century (2090), and there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean.

Presently, the new generation's slogan is: “Ocean we have, the science we need, for the ocean we want”, and in other words: “the better ocean, we can get better human inhabitants”.

The ocean is considered a source of various solutions, including climate change mitigation, and future food and energy. It furnishes uncountable aesthetic, cultural, and recreational services that are essential to human well-being. According to the OECD, the ocean economy generated USD 1.5 trillion in 2010, and could potentially reach an output of USD 3.5 trillion in 2030. But the ocean is influenced by land-based human activities, and also ocean-atmosphere interactions. Approximately 40% of the ocean’s surface is affected by multiple drivers, and 66% is cumulative impacts.