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The term Blue Economy has become increasingly used over the past decade, despite its lack of definition, with a multitude of agents and agencies finding the name acceptable to frame their ‘economy’ strategies, regardless of the hue. There are also many sceptics, given the long succession of let-downs since the 1980s such as when a similarly attractive term, sustainable development, was coined and supposed to meet economic, social and environmental objectives but in practice mainly focused on the economy at the expense of the environment.

As party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Kiribati is obliged to submit a national report on the implementation of the convention. The report will, in essence, be focused on the national implementation strategies, action plans, legislative instrument, and achievements relative to the convention.

Since the adoption of Agenda 21 following the United Nations Conference on Environment and development in 1992, this report constitutes the first opportunity for Samoa to assess its situation with regard to sustainable development in the past decade

The magnitude and pace of global change demand rapid assessment of nature and its contributions to people. We present a fine-scale global modeling of current status and future scenarios for several contributions: water quality regulation, coastal risk reduction, and crop pollination. We find that where people’s needs for nature are now greatest, nature’s ability to meet those needs is declining. Up to 5 billion people face higher water pollution and insufficient pollination for nutrition under future scenarios of land use and climate change, particularly in Africa and South Asia.