How to Ensure Ocean Projects Are Fair

A scorecard asseses how ocean projects and policies recognize relevant stakeholders and include them in decision-making

The following is a summary of a story that originally appeared on the Nicholas School of the Environment.

Let’s say an energy company is developing an offshore wind farm near a small First Nations fishing village. How can this company ensure that it respects Indigenous rights?

A flexible new tool called the Ocean Equity Index could help. It’s a scorecard that anyone can use to assess the extent to which an ocean initiative or policy recognizes relevant stakeholders, includes them in decision-making and otherwise treats them fairly.

Marginalized coastal communities often bear the burdens of ocean exploitation, from pollution to lost livelihoods, explains David Gill, assistant professor in marine science and conservation at the Nicholas School of the Environment. “But when the rights, voices and well-being of marginalized groups are genuinely prioritized in decision‑making, we see more equitable outcomes for these communities,” Gill says.

Gill is part of an international team, called the Blue Justice Working Group, that developed the Ocean Equity Index. The researchers recently described the tool in the journal Nature, which featured their work on its Feb. 5 cover.

The Ocean Equity Index incorporates standardized questions to assess matters of equity — such as human rights, accountability, and potential harms and benefits — through an ocean lens. The tool is free to download and can support a variety of ocean initiatives, from policymaking to commercial project development to fundraising, at different scales and stages.

For example, coastal communities can use the index to hold commercial projects to account, and foundations could use it to screen funding applications. Governments could also use the tool to report on commitments to ocean equity.

“The Ocean Equity Index offers a practical, evidence‑based way to help decision-makers to better ensure their efforts truly support the coastal communities they aim to serve,” Gill says.

Read the full story on Nicholas School of the Environment.