Palestinians and the Blue Economy

- Recently countries have begun...looking for ways to secure and develop their resources by exploring additional resources, in order to achieve sustainable economic development, especially given the scarcity of natural resources, against rising consumption rates that continue at the same pace, which has impacted the needs of future generations. This continuous consumption has also led to the depletion of onshore resources, accompanied by many changes, such as: population growth, scarcity of natural resources, low agricultural production, environmental pollution, and intensive industrialization, which resulted in the rarity of these resources...

- The blue economy is important, especially since its importance has increased recently to meet the growing global demand for more energy, increased efficiency, and resilient supply chains. The future of the blue economy has become critically important, and interest in the wealth of the oceans, seas and rivers has recently been rising. In the recent period we witnessed how a dispute between Turkey, Greece and Egypt at the borders of the exclusive economic zone and territorial waters…and over states’ rights to extend these zones…almost led to an armed clash between the parties to seize the abundant resources inundated by ocean and sea waters….including oil and gas..!

- The coinage of the term "blue economy" goes back to Belgian businessman Gunter Pauli, in his book titled: "The Blue Economy: 10 Years, 100 Innovations, 100 Million Jobs" published in 2010, and in the aftermath of the "Rio+20" conference in 2012, and the conferences that have followed up to now.

- The term "blue economy," emanating from the concept of "sustainable development," has been defined by many parties...considered a new developmental approach and pattern...as “the set of human activities that depend on the sea and/or are supported by land–sea interactions in the context of sustainable development, particularly industrial and service sectors such as aquaculture, fisheries, blue biotechnology, coastal and marine tourism, shipping, shipbuilding and repair, ports, ocean energy, and marine renewable energy, including offshore wind....” In managing human activities in waters adjacent to land in this type of economy, reliance is placed on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.....whose provisions appear in more than 400 articles and numerous annexes, which was signed in the city of Montego Bay in the State of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea......on 10-12-1984..and entered into force in 1994. This convention was called the "constitution of the oceans"..and most states signed it...and the State of Palestine signed as an "Observer" at the United Nations, having acceded to this convention on 1-2-2015, according to the list of international agreements signed by Palestine displayed on the website of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.....

- The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea constitutes a comprehensive, integrated, and widely accepted legal framework "for ocean governance," as this convention defines the rights and duties of coastal states on a range of matters: marine scientific research, exploration and exploitation of resources.....etc.

- The value of current "blue economy" activities is about 1.5 trillion dollars. The ocean, sea and river economy is full of abundant sources and makes sustainable development a tangible reality.....For this purpose, the Law of the Sea Convention was signed by states in 1982, as we noted above.... The management of the use of waters by coastal states over the oceans and seas was therefore agreed upon, and it was agreed to define the dimensions of the maritime zones that are exploitable by any coastal state. Territorial waters for each coastal state were defined as a distance of 12 nautical miles (the nautical mile equals 1.2 statute miles, or 1.9 km), as waters in which the coastal state exercises absolute sovereignty over these areas, in addition to its exclusive exploitation of wealth in this maritime area, and the airspace above the waters, and what lies in the seabed from mining; then the "exclusive economic zones" in which every state has the right to exploit the resources in these zones alone were defined, and their breadth was set at 200 nautical miles. However, this economic maritime area is not subject to state sovereignty, and then come the areas of the high seas...

- It is known that land constitutes 29% of the total area of the Earth, while the remaining 71% is ocean and sea waters. The land includes all continents and islands in the waters, and comprises approximately 149,000,000 km2 of the total global area of 510,000,000 km2.

- In Palestine, our coastal areas within the (borders of June 4, 1967) lie off the Gaza Strip, along the coastal strip that is about 43 km long approximately, from the Beit Lahia area in the north to the city of Rafah in the south, in addition to the Dead Sea (as internal waters)..where we have maritime rights not only with Israel...but with Egypt, Cyprus and Jordan as well. Our rights to exploit natural resources there must be guaranteed. Although, according to Palestinian sources, the Israelis did not recognize this maritime breadth prescribed for states in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (12 nautical miles)...and instead sometimes permit a small area for fishermen that may reach 3–4 nautical miles..and I have not found any official or UN sources...to corroborate such information, or to indicate the existence of any Palestinian exclusive economic zone within the 1967 borders....nor any information about our water rights in the Dead Sea.!.

- Regarding our blue economy in Palestine, we point out that quantities of gas reserves were discovered off the coast of Gaza (the Mari-B reservoir 2)..and American sources say that there is a reserve for this field with an approximate capacity of 1.5 trillion cubic meters of gas..and that was in 1999. The Palestinians have been unable to extract the gas in this well...due to Israeli occupation resistance...by imposing restrictions on the limits of the territorial and economic waters of the Palestinians on the shores of the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean Sea...considering that the internationally agreed territorial water limits are between states..! The British company "British Gas" was granted drilling and exploitation concession rights in 1999, but it left the well in 2008 due to its dispute with the Israeli occupation authorities regarding gas extraction and marketing..then another foreign company came which also departed in 2018...Israel obstructs Palestinians’ exploitation of this wealth...and the Palestinian gas field is now in the possession of the Palestine Investment Fund, and the contractors who signed an agreement to invest the "Mari-B 2" field with the Egyptian Natural Gas Company.....in 2021....according to Palestinian sources.

- Palestine within the 1967 borders is poor in onshore natural resources as publicly and officially known and permitted, yet the Gaza Strip’s shores on the Mediterranean Sea, according to expert estimates, hold large reserves of natural gas, and therefore Palestinians must continue to claim internationally to preserve their maritime rights.....and their shares of sea waters under international law.....especially as they are members of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum.

- The Oslo Accords of 1993 and the Paris Economic Protocol of 1994 did not enumerate details of the Palestinians’ water rights as a state.....so the Palestinian economy—its seas, skies and land—fell into dependency on the Israeli economy....Palestinian attempts and appeals among themselves to change or amend the situation did not succeed...voices became faint....in the space of occupied Palestine....without any recourse..! And to make matters worse, the continuation of the wound of division among Palestinians, which has become a bitter reality, casts a shadow and weighs heavily on the Palestinian condition, which cannot bear such an odious division...!

· It seems that our journey with the Palestinian economy to add another arm to its economy by using the blue economy is still far from reach..!....and I fear that the Palestinian proverb used to urge workers to go early to their work will apply to us...."Where are you wandering while people are going home"...meaning...that we may wander (go) to the field of claiming rights...after the matter of our resources has been settled by others..after they have sucked out the resources....and return...from their wicked wandering……while we are oblivious…!