The blue economy is a major driver of urban and regional development, providing millions of local jobs. However, cities are facing growing water risks: urban property damage from flooding already costs USD 120 billion per year, and a drought can reduce a city’s economic growth by up to 12%. Recognising that economic resilience requires water resilience, the OECD Cities and Regions for a Blue Economy project supports cities, regions and basins to tackle these risks and unlock the potential of a resilient, inclusive, sustainable and circular blue economy that contributes to economic growth, social well-being and ecosystem preservation.

• Read the flyer in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish

• Read the blog post

• Read the presentation of the preliminary findings of the OECD Global Survey on Localising the Blue Economy

• Read the New York City Multi-stakeholder Pledge on Localising the Blue Economy 

• Read the CIDOB article on Cities and regions for a blue economy 

• Barcelona, Spain
• Canary Islands, Spain
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Cross River, Nigeria
• Gijón, Spain
• Guadeloupe, France
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Los Lagos, Chile
• Matosinhos, Portugal
• New Orleans, United States
• North Karelia, Finland
• Nouvelle Aquitaine, France
• Pelotas, Brazil
• Porto, Portugal
• Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil
• Rio Grande, Brazil
• San Sebastián, Spain
• Seattle, United States
• Soča valley, Slovenia
• Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

• UN 2023 Water Conference
• World Ocean Summit 2023
• Tomorrow. Oceans (Smart City Expo World Congress 2022)
• OECD Virtual Pavilion (COP27)
• Water Pavilion (COP26)

Oriana Romano
Head of Unit Water Governance, Blue and Circular Economy
Oriana.Romano@oecd.org   

Juliette Lassman
Junior Policy Analyst, Water Governance, Blue and Circular Economy
Juliette.Lassman@oecd.org