Tomorrow Blue Economy: insights on growing the blue economy
During Tomorrow Blue Economy, a three-day international conference on innovation on and around the sea, it became clear that the blue economy is growing rapidly. At the same time, several persistent challenges surfaced that hinder further development. Below we share the key insights.
The conference was part of the broader Smart City Expo World Congress, where international players gather around smart and sustainable solutions. At the joint Belgian stand, coordinated by Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) and AWEX, the focus was mainly on smart-city applications, citizen engagement and digital innovations.
Elsewhere at the fair, nature-tech and climate-oriented technologies were also present, offering a broader view of trends in both urban and ocean-related innovation.
A sector in full growth, but with clear barriers
The blue economy is receiving increasing recognition worldwide as part of the climate solution. More capital than ever is flowing towards offshore energy, ecosystems, new materials, aquaculture and marine tech. Yet several structural barriers remain persistent:
- Projects are often not yet ready for financing.
Investments stall not due to a lack of interest, but because projects cannot yet sufficiently demonstrate financial, technical or regulatory maturity. - Innovations struggle to move beyond the test phase.
Many promising solutions remain stuck in pilots because connections between developers, users and investors are missing. - There is no shared way to measure impact.
Standards for biodiversity, ecosystems, blue carbon or restoration projects are still in their infancy, making comparison and scaling difficult. - Communication remains an underestimated factor.
Many solutions already exist but are unknown to policymakers, investors and the general public. Clear explanation and visibility are crucial to building support.
The result: a rapidly growing sector still searching for clarity, standardisation and market confidence.
Financing and market models: from potential to reality
A lot is happening in the field of blue finance.
- New instruments such as blue bonds and blended finance are gaining importance but require clearer definitions and more example projects.
- Companies and investors need additional knowledge to use these instruments correctly.
- In several areas, above-market returns are possible if risks are shared fairly.
mCDR as an example of a rapidly growing market
Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) refers to technologies and nature-based solutions that actively remove CO₂ from the ocean or seawater so it does not return to the atmosphere. Examples include increasing seawater alkalinity, using seaweed, accelerated natural weathering or electrochemical processes.
This market is developing extremely fast and offers potential for large-scale climate solutions. Ports play an important role as test locations and living labs. The biggest challenge remains reliably measuring and monitoring the actual CO₂ impact.
Within Blue Cluster, interest in mCDR is also growing. Projects such as Wetcoast, Blue Alkalinity and Bernardo each explore how marine processes can contribute to CO₂ removal, and provide valuable building blocks for further development and testing in Flemish and international contexts.
Aquaculture holds promise, but funding remains a challenge
Aquaculture has a lower climate impact than many land-based protein sources. However, the sector struggles with limited visibility, financing and traceability.
Digital monitoring and new financing models are seen as key to moving forward.
Innovation at sea: from technology to scaling
Many innovation domains are evolving quickly, but still face the same challenge: how to move from promising ideas to real-world application?
Regeneration becomes the new sustainability
Companies are shifting from limiting damage to actively restoring ecosystems. This requires scalable solutions, clear business models and independent validation. Early cases show that restoration projects receive permits faster, reduce costs and allow for new services.
Ports as hubs for change
Ports are becoming global centres for:
- test infrastructure
- energy innovation
- coastal protection
- nature-based solutions
- collaboration around data and ecosystems
Through their planning role, infrastructure and international networks, ports play a key role in ecosystem restoration, offshore innovation and mCDR.
People and skills set the pace
The growth of the blue economy is limited by a shortage of people with the right mix of skills. The sector needs profiles that combine technology, ecology, data, policy and entrepreneurship.
Education and training are not yet sufficiently aligned with this need. More collaboration between industry, research institutions and policymakers is required to prepare the workforce for the future.
Conclusion: moving forward together for a stronger blue economy
The conference showed that the blue economy is ready for its next growth phase. Innovations, market interest and partnerships are increasing, but real breakthroughs require better connections between technology, market, finance, policy and knowledge.
For companies, researchers, ports, policymakers and investors, this creates new opportunities:
- stronger collaboration and knowledge-sharing to help projects grow faster
- clearer standards and reliable data to build confidence
- suitable financing models that help innovations cross the threshold
- clearer communication about impact and value to strengthen support
- more focus on ecosystem restoration, allowing the economy and nature to move forward together
In that broader landscape, Blue Cluster aims to play a guiding role: bringing actors together, sharing insights, supporting innovation and connecting new initiatives to the needs of the market and policy - not as an endpoint, but as a partner for all who want to help build a future-proof, healthy and resilient blue economy.
For more information, please contact Kristien Veys.
Bridging the Gap
During Tomorrow Blue Economy, our CEO Piet Opstaele took part in the panel “Bridging the Gap: Turning Ocean Innovation into Industry Impact.” The discussion brought together experts from ports, industry and the investment world to examine why maritime innovations often fail to progress beyond pilot stage, and how the sector can overcome this.
The panel highlighted several persistent barriers: fragmented financing, limited access to ports and permits, and a lack of entrepreneurship within research and industry. Ports can play a bigger role by guiding startups towards the market and channelling innovation through international collaboration. Hybrid financing models are becoming increasingly important, alongside a sharper focus on end users rather than technology alone.
