A collective of United Nations agencies and global partners have launched the co-design process for One Ocean Finance, a new initiative that seeks to unlock billions in new financing from ocean-dependent industries and blue economy sectors.
The initiative, which was announced at the Blue Economy Finance Forum in Monaco and is being carried through to the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice this week, calls on member states, private sector leaders, financial institutions, and civil society to shape a ‘more coherent and inclusive ocean finance architecture’, which reflects the true value of the ocean as a global asset.
While the ocean plays a critical role in global trade, food security, climate regulation, and community livelihoods, UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), which focuses on ocean conservation, has received less funding than other SDGs, with less than $10 billion invested annually between 2015 and 2019.
This is well below the $175 billion needed annually, and One Ocean Finance will seek to close this financing gap by mobilising new and diverse sources of capital, particularly from ocean-linked sectors, and deploy them through blended financial instruments that can de-risk innovation and unlock private investment.
‘Collaborative process’
“This collaborative process will bring together governments, financial institutions, ocean industries, the United Nations, and civil society to collectively shape a new financial future for the ocean,” commented Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
“Through the development of One Ocean Finance, our goal is to address decades of chronic underinvestment, consolidate fragmented efforts, and design a system that is equitable, agile, and responsive to the needs of coastal communities and marine ecosystems.”
One Ocean Finance is being developed by a multi-agency collective, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), along with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-IOC), the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), among others.
‘Undervalued, underfunded and overexploited’
“The ocean regulates our climate, feeds billions, and powers global trade, yet it is undervalued, underfunded, and overexploited,” added UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “We need to redesign ocean finance—grounded in equity, guided by science, and powered by the potential of ocean-dependent industries.
“One Ocean Finance represents a movement toward systems-level transformation, enabling fairer, faster, and larger-scale financing—mobilising public and private capital to restore marine ecosystems and deliver justice to the communities who depend on them.” Read more here.
