The FRB in action
Project ended in 2025
BLUE JUSTICE
Advancing ocean equity at the nexus of development, climate and conservation policy
Achieving inclusive and sustainable ocean economies, long-term climate resilience, and effective biodiversity conservation requires urgent and strategic actions from local to global scales.
Recent development, climate, and biodiversity intergovernmental agreements are increasing global attention and resources towards the ocean economy, climate adaptation, and conservation. Without focused attention to equity across these policy domains at local to global levels, there are risks for maladaptive actions and negative impacts to health and well-being, which will exacerbate the vulnerability of marginalized populations, and likely undermine joint policy goals.
Blue Justice will produce original, solution-oriented research based on the synthesis of multiple existing, and newly assembled, global datasets on climate adaptation, development and conservation ocean initiatives. Specifically, Blue Justice will examine the relationships between equity and social-ecological outcomes, generating novel insights on the conditions that promote equity and climate resilience in vulnerable coastal groups (including women and Indigenous groups), and produce the first global evidence-base on innovative pathways towards greater equity and resilience in climate adaptation, development and marine conservation.
RESEARCHERS
PIs:
Jessica BLYTHE – Brock University (Canada);
Joachim CLAUDET – CNRS (France);
David GILL – Duke University (USA)
ouvrir/fermer
Participants:
Blue Justice brings together specialists in marine biology, conservation , soci-ecology and environmental laws.
PROJECT
Blue Justice was selected from the 2020 call for proposals. The project selection process was carried out by a committee of independent experts.
Webinar - Cesabinar
In October 2025, Jessica Blythe (Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada) and David Gill (Duke University Marine Lab, Nicholas School of the Environment, Beaufort, NC) presented the results of the Blue Justice group during a CESABINAR which can be (re-) watched below:
Advancing ocean equity at the nexus of development, climate and conservation policy
Ocean inequity is rising, with the benefits of marine resources increasingly concentrated among a few, while vulnerable coastal communities bear the greatest burdens. Addressing this challenge requires solutions that explicitly integrate equity, tackling the roots of structural imbalances rather than treating inequity as a secondary concern. The Blue Justice working group, supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité (FRB) through its CESAB program, has advanced this agenda through research on the intersection of development, climate, and conservation policies.
Evidence shows that coastal communities face compounded pressures from climate change, blue growth initiatives, and conservation efforts, which can exacerbate social inequities and undermine resilience. This seminar will highlight pathways for promoting fairness and sustainability in ocean governance, emphasize inclusive decision-making, and introduce a novel tool for measuring and advancing ocean equity. The discussion will also showcase the role of grassroots resistance and community-led strategies in fostering justice, well-being, and resilience across ocean-dependent communities.
Key publications:
- Claudet, J., Blythe, J., Gill, D. A., Bennett, N. J., Gurney, G. G., Evans, L., … & Naggea, J. (2024). Advancing ocean equity at the nexus of development, climate and conservation policy, Nat. Ecol. Evol., 8, 1205–1208
- Gill, D. A., Blythe, J., Bennett, N., Evans, L., Brown, K., Turner, R. A., … & Muthiga, N. A. (2023). Triple exposure: Reducing negative impacts of climate change, blue growth, and conservation on coastal communities. One Earth, 6(2), 118-130.
- Blythe, J. L., Gill, D. A., Claudet, J., Bennett, N. J., Gurney, G. G., Baggio, J. A., … & Zafra-Calvo, N. (2023). Blue justice: A review of emerging scholarship and resistance movements. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1, e15
PUBLICATIONS
[07] Gill DA, D’Agata S, Blythe JL, Claudet J, Ban NC, Annasawmy P, Bennett NJ, Di Franco A, Epstein G, Evans L, Franks P, Gurney GG, Jupiter SD, Lau J, Lazzari N, Mahajan SL, Mangubhai S, Naggea J, Turner RA & Zafra-Calvo N (2026) Investing smarter and deeper to advance equity in high-stakes coastal locations in the Global South. Communications Sustainability, 1, 54. DOI: 10.1038/s44458-026-00052-8.
[06] Bennett NJ, Relano V, Roumbedakis K, Blythe JL, Andrachuk M, Claudet J, Dawson NM, Gill DA, Lazzari N, Mahajan SL, Muhl E-K, Riechers M, Strand M & Villasante S (2025) Ocean Equity: From assessment to action to improve social equity in ocean governance. Frontiers in Marine Science, accepted. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1473382.
[05] Claudet J, Blythe J, Gill DA, Bennett NJ, Gurney GG, Evans L, Mahajan SL, Turner RA, Ahmadia GN, Ban NC, Epstein G, Jupiter SD, Lau J, Mangubhai S, Zafra-Calvo N, Lazzari N, Baggio JA, Bernard ML, Brun V, D’Agata S, Di Franco A, Horan R & Naggea J (2024) Advancing ocean equity at the nexus of development, climate and conservation policy. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8, 1205-1208. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02417-5.
[04] Blythe JL, Gill DA, Claudet J, Bennett NJ, Gurney GG, Baggio JA, Ban NC, Bernard ML, Brun V, Darling ES, Di Franco A, Epstein G, Franks P, Horan R, Jupiter SD, Lau J, Lazzari N, Mahajan SL, Mangubhai S, Naggea J, Turner RA & Zafra-Calvo N (2023) Blue justice: A review of emerging scholarship and resistance movements. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1, E15. DOI: 10.1017/cft.2023.4.
[03] Gill DA, Blythe J, Bennett N, Evans L, Brown K, Turner RA, Baggio JA, Baker D, Ban NC, Brun V, Claudet J, Darling E, Di Franco A, Epstein G, Estradivari X, Gray NJ, Gurney GG, Horan RP, Jupiter SD, Lau JD, Lazzari N, Lestari P, Mahajan SL, Mangubhai S, Naggea J, Selig ER, Whitney CK, Zafra-Calvo N & Muthiga NA (2023) Triple exposure: Reducing negative impacts of climate change, blue growth, and conservation on coastal communities. One Earth, 6, 118-130. DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.01.010.
[02] Claudet J, Ban NC, Blythe J, Briggs J, Darling E, Gurney GG, Palardy JE, Pike EP, Agostini VN, Ahmadia GN, Campbell SJ, Epstein G, Gill D, Himes-Cornell A, Jonas HD, Jupiter SD, Mangubhai S & Morgan L (2022) Avoiding the misuse of other effective area-based conservation measures in the wake of the blue economy. One Earth, 5, 969–974. DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.08.010.
[01] Bennett NJ, Katz L, Yadao-Evans W, Ahmadia GN, Atkinson S, Ban NC, Dawson NM, de Vos A, Fitzpatrick J, Gill D, Imirizaldu M, Lewis N, Mangubhai S, Meth L, Muhl E-K, Obura D, Spalding AK, Villagomez A, Wagner D, White A & Wilhelm A (2021) Advancing social equity in and through marine conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 711538. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2021.711538.
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