COP 26 Event | Funding a Sustainable Blue Economy

When it comes to the ocean, there is a stark difference between a 1.5ºC world, where 70-90% of corals are lost, and a 2ºC world, where corals are virtually extinct in tropical areas. However, to keep 1.5 degrees within reach, we also need a healthy ocean. As the earth’s largest natural carbon sink, the ocean has already absorbed 1/3 of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions since the 1980s - however, this has come at a cost, leading to rising acidification, warming, and damage to this critical ecosystem.

The ocean is at the nexus of the triple planetary crises; climate change, nature loss, and pollution. It is time that the ocean was seen not as part of the problem, but as part of the solution. A healthy ocean means an oxygenated planet. It means abundant marine life and food security for billions of people. It means a functioning carbon sink to help sequester greenhouse gasses, even as our economies transition to a low-emissions energy future.

By ensuring human activities which directly impact and depend on the ocean are sustainable, we can rebuild ocean prosperity and restore biodiversity. Ocean-linked economic activities such as shipping, fishing, coastal tourism, or port development need to rapidly put on a path towards a sustainable blue economy, which remains exceptionally underfunded.

This session focuses on how we can mobilise both public and private financial flows from banks, insurers and investors, towards a sustainable ocean industry that offers immense potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation, using key frameworks and initiatives, including the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles - to rebuild, renew and replenish the ocean - for people and planet.