Counting Women?: gendered sustainability and inclusivity for an Ocean Accounts Framework: key policy considerations

Abstract

Oceans are increasingly gaining scholarly and policy attention as a means to achieve economic and social prosperity. Through the notion of the 'blue economy', the international policy narrative constructs the oceans as critical for sustainable development and human wellbeing. Furthermore, the major economic potential of the oceans necessitates some measure of how ocean resources are used to advance social and economic inclusion, sustainable development, and human wellbeing. Ocean accounting is critical in the context of equitable and inclusive socioeconomic development. Given the aim of sustainable and inclusive development on which the Blue Economy is built, there is a need to consider gender within ocean governance and accounting systems. This policy brief engages a gendered analysis of ocean governance and accounting to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of policy directives needed for inclusive and sustainable development through the Blue Economy.