Impact of climate change, biodiversity loss and governance quality on blue economy in Bangladesh

The blue economy has gained increasing global attention as a framework for promoting sustainable ocean-based economic development, particularly in coastal and developing countries. The fisheries sector in Bangladesh is vital for food security, employment and economic growth. But fisheries productivity is under growing risk of environmental and governance stress. However, few empirical studies have investigated the integrated impact of environmental and institutional drivers of fisheries productivity and there is a growing concern. This study examines the influence of climate change, biodiversity loss, and governance quality on fisheries productivity by using annual time-series data for Bangladesh, covering the period from 1990 to 2023. An ARDL approach is used to examine short-run and long-run relationship between the variables. In particular, the results verify the presence of a long-run equilibrating connection between fisheries productivity and its environmental and institutional factors. These results imply that both climate change and biodiversity loss severely weaken fisheries productivity, whereas better governance quality and labor participation both have a positive impact on fisheries output. Trade openness has a diverse influence, where its short-term effect is positive, and in the long term, it has a negative effect on fisheries productivity. These findings underscore the necessity of integrating environmental sustainability and institutional governance in fishery management to promote the sustainability of the blue economy of Bangladesh in the long run.