Personal reflections on the Blue Economy concept. Arguably largely due to space technologies and satellite-derived data sets there has been a game changing shift from sea blindness to sea vision enabling us to assess the value of national sea spaces and derive socio-economic benefit from them whilst regenerating and sustaining the marine environment in the long term. We’ve cracked the technology; the challenges now are raising public awareness, changing cultural perceptions and galvanising the commercial opportunities revealed by the space sector.
Speaker biography
Rear Admiral Nick Lambert concluded a long naval operational career as the UK National Hydrographer in 2012, becoming a committed proponent of the Blue Economy concept. A co-founder and director of NLA International, he majors on the significant value of the blue natural capital possessed by island and coastal states and their opportunity to derive socio-economic benefit from that capital whilst regenerating the marine environment. This can be achieved through the imaginative development of multi-function offshore infrastructure, combining zero emissions power generation with aquaculture, wild fish stock and marine habitat regeneration, ecotourism and pragmatic marine protected areas; informed and actively managed by comprehensive maritime situational awareness. He has a particular interest in the Polar Regions and is also engaged in a variety of situational awareness, fisheries and aquaculture management, marine autonomous systems and vessel efficiency projects. Nick chairs the James Caird Society and the Polar Citizen Science Collective.