The latter which concerns sustainability is necessitated by the current overexploitation and poor management of marine resources, resulting in lost opportunities to improve livelihoods, heightened risks to global food security, and diminished economic opportunities especially for the world's fisherfolk and coastal populations. These developments have made possible access to, and use of, marine resources that were out of reach a few decades ago such as marine bio-prospecting, renewable marine energy and rare metal mineral extraction in the seabed. These include small populations, a limited natural (land-based) resource base, high dependency on development assistance and international trade (especially for imports), susceptibility to external shocks, remoteness from major markets, recurrent natural disasters and they are highly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, especially rising temperatures and sea-level rise. The fact that oceans surround them makes many of these vulnerabilities more evident especially in environmental terms, in high transportation cost and in low connectivity terms.