Living within the ecological limits of our planet, we are today confronted with the limits of our models of development. Faced with increasing economic, social and environmental crises, the effects of which are becoming more and more visible, it has become urgent to reinvent an economic model which will ensure a harmonious development, while being economical in terms of natural resources and with reduced impacts on ecosystems. On this point, it is not simply a question of preserving or conserving ecosystems, but of ensuring that they maintain their capacity for evolution and adaptation over time to continue to provide essential services they lavish on human societies.

To respond to this, new concepts are now emerging that take these realities into account. These include the development of the blue economy, which “promotes the conservation of aquatic and marine ecosystems, the sustainable use and management of the resources they shelter”. The Blue Fund for the Congo Basin announced at COP22 is part of this dynamic and constitutes a concrete example of an integrated project that fully fits into the logic of the blue economy. ENERGIES 2050, a well-known actor on the issues of preserving biodiversity, proposes here a deciphering of the stakes involved in this initiative, while offering ideas for its modalities and prospects for implementation. This note completes an article produced by ENERGIES 2050 in the journal Afrique Environnement Plus.