The informal interactive workshop “Keeping the Green Economy Blue” was held on Friday, 29 April 2011, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at UN Headquarters, New York, US. Co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Australia and the Pew Environment Group, the workshop responded to the emerging consensus that healthy oceans are an essential part of the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and as such should figure prominently in the agenda of the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

The workshop assessed the current state of the oceans and marine environment; reviewed the commitments made at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002; and considered social and economic implications and policy recommendations for transitioning to a “blue economy.”