A cross-national analysis of the factors impacting the coastal ecological footprint

Coastal ecological footprint (EF) forms one of the six components of the EF measure. It accounts for the marine area required to sustain current levels of seafood consumption within a nation. It is estimated by drawing on the calculation of net primary production or the amount of solar energy converted into organic matter through photosynthesis needed to support a fishery. Coastal ecosystems, found along continental margins are the regions of extraordinary productivity and accessibility which also makes them vulnerable to degradation. Hence studying their footprint becomes important. This paper seeks to find the driving factors behind the coastal EF using data from 117 countries for a period of two decades from 1992 to 2012. A set of economic, demographic, climatic and trade variables were found to have the biggest impact on coastal EF. Given that temperature has emerged as the most import driving factor coastal EF among the variables examined, policies to protect and restore coastal ecosystems go hand in hand with the policies to combat global warming and ties into the larger narrative of climate change that has sparked debate and controversy in recent times. It is necessary to have the international co-operation through organisations, conventions, agreements and everything in between because we know that the temperature fluctuations at unprecedented levels are a global phenomena. But countries inevitably give different levels of priority to the sustainable development of their coasts depending upon national interests.