The Rising Tide: Mapping Ocean Finance For A New Decade

The Rising Tide: Mapping Ocean Finance For A New Decade

The Rising Tide report maps the current state of ocean finance revealing trends in lending, underwriting and investment activities which impact the ocean. It reveals the frameworks and financial instruments that are successfully addressing ocean sustainability and highlights new opportunities and gaps in the market. It looks across five major ocean-linked sectors chosen for their established connection with private finance: seafood, ports, maritime transport, coastal and marine tourism and marine renewable energy.

This forward-thinking report builds on the United Nations’ Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles. 

Impact Investment for Biodiversity Conservation: Cases from Latin America and the Caribbean

Impact Investment for Biodiversity Conservation: Cases from Latin America and the Caribbean

More than 30% of the earth's available freshwater and almost 50% of the world's tropical forests are found in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region which possesses a vast array of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. This unique source of capital -- natural capital -- generates important life-supporting benefits for people called ecosystem services. The term “natural capital” refers to the terrestrial and marine ecosystem components, including biodiversity, that contribute to the generation of valuable goods and services for humankind now and in the future. A shortfall in funding to protecting nature's assets and biodiversity can be partially addressed through mobilization of private investment by supporting private actors that are sustainably leveraging natural capital, facilitating private investment in conservation and restoration projects, and fostering private innovation in sustainability solutions. This report characterizes and evaluates the performance of innovative finance approaches in LAC including blended finance, green bonds, payment for ecosystem services (PES), capital markets solutions, habitat banks, direct equity and pooled funds, and accelerators. As countries seek to reach their commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Accord, and Sustainable Development Goals 14 and 15, innovative finance could become an essential complement to public finance and a catalyzer to achieve those commitments through the sustainable use of nature, while ensuring local livelihoods and a more inclusive development.

Business For Nature: Suggestions to deliver an ambitious global agreement on nature at CBD COP15

Business For Nature
Suggestions to deliver an ambitious global agreement on nature at CBD COP15

Business for Nature has set out nine suggestions, with specific text amendments, for negotiators to include in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (the Framework), aiming to strengthen its ambition. More than 100 businesses head-quartered in 31 countries have provided input to our position. It builds on Business for Nature’s policy recommendations and on the momentum of our Call to Action, Nature Is Everyone‘s Business, through which 700 companies are urging governments to adopt policies now to reverse nature loss.

Why is the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity a big deal?

The United Kingdom’s Treasury (economic and finance ministry) is gearing up to launch an independent global report on the importance of biodiversity for economies and future prosperity. Led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity could help precipitate a major rethink on how we value biodiversity and its implications for policy and natural capital finance.

Exploring gender inclusion in small-scale fisheries management and development in Melanesia

A new study co-led by Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of WCS’s Fiji Program, examines an emerging issue in fisheries management: gender inclusion and equality. Interviewing fisheries managers and practitioners working in Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, Mangubhai says that despite good intentions to make small-scale fisheries more equitable, the approaches currently used are unlikely to ensure gender inclusion, or address gender inequalities. Fisheries managers and practitioners need to diversify their approaches to address the underlying norms, relations, structures that shape the marginalization of women. This means arming fisheries managers and practitioners with tools that go beyond simply reaching women, to empowering women, and transforming gender norms and relationships that reinforce inequalities, in locally and culturally acceptable ways. Mangubhai and co-author Sarah Lawless of James Cook University, say there is an opportunity to work closely with gender and development organizations (particularly in the Pacific) with decades of knowledge and experience to help transfer the capacity into the fisheries sector. For fisheries to be sustainably managed, coastal fishing communities need to be including in fisheries planning, management and development. By ensuring women are included, fisheries are more likely to be sustainable, and the benefits more fairly distributed.

"Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: A business case for re/insurance"

A fifth of countries worldwide at risk from ecosystem collapse as biodiversity declines, reveals pioneering Swiss Re index. The study, which is based on Swiss Re Institute's new Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Index, shows that both developing and advanced economies are at risk. The report finds developing countries that have a heavy dependence on agricultural sectors, such as Kenya or Nigeria, are susceptible to BES shocks from a range of biodiversity and ecosystem issues.

Fondo Acción: On the road towards 100% sustainable investment portfolio

Fondo Acción, a Colombian-based, Trust Fund shares an update on their journey towards 100% sustainable investments which began in February of 2019.

The transition of the investment portfolio to a 100% sustainable portfolio is still ongoing. Fondo Acción team expects that 90% of the transition will be completed by December 2020. The challenge now is to include in the portfolio investments in areas associated with the Fund’s mission, such as climate change mitigation or adaptation, sustainable rural development, or recognition of the provision of environmental services.

Read about their experience here!

Mobilizing finance across sectors and projects to achieve sustainable landscapes: Emerging models

This report is intended to provide a grounding in integrated landscape finance, as well as inspire further innovation by landscape partnerships, service providers for landscape finance, developers of landscape finance vehicles, and investors. It has three main components.

The first component describes the elements of integrated landscape finance systems, why these systems are important to sustainably transform landscapes throughout the world, and the key elements of a robust integrated landscape finance system.

The second component report on major innovations that have emerged to advance integrated landscape finance, exploring a range of diverse models of landscape investment service providers and landscape finance vehicles.

The final component reflects on lessons learned from the review, identify critical gaps, and suggest what can be done to support the success and scaling of these models of integrated landscape finance in the future.

Tackling the triple crisis. Using debt swaps to address debt, climate and nature loss post-COVID-19

Even before COVID-19, fears were growing over developing country debt, which had surpassed US$8 trillion by the end of 2019. The pandemic has made the situation much worse as its economic impact pushes millions more women, children and men in these countries into poverty. This paper shows how, as part of pandemic economic rescue packages, governments have an opportunity to address simultaneously the crises of debt, climate and biodiversity destruction through a new use of the system of debt for climate and nature programme swaps. Increasing the use of these types of debt swaps would benefit lender and debtor governments as well as private creditors.

Now more than ever, climate debt swaps should be the financial tool of choice

As the risk of debt default soars in developing countries, Canada should do more to support a financing instrument with clear environmental benefits.

Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap

This report, produced by The Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservatory and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability discusses how government must undertake catalytic policy reforms to unleash biodiversity funding. The report presents six concrete recommended actions which will accelerate each of the nine financing mechanisms described. These six recommended actions will materially contribute to the closing of the biodiversity financing implementation gap. 

Valuing Nature Conservation - Mckinsey & Company

Building on existing data sets and methodologies, this report quantifies some of the potential benefits and costs of conserving 30 percent of the planet by 2030, while exploring the trade-offs and challenges involved. The report concludes with actions and questions for key stakeholders to consider.

Wilderness and conservation policies needed to avoid a coral reef fisheries crisis

A new global study has found that only 2.5 percent of tropical reefs are formally protected and conserved through laws and regulations. These numbers are significantly lower than previous estimates, and highlight an urgent need for governments, communities, and partnering organizations to create and expand marine reserves to protect these ecosystems which support more than 500 million people worldwide.

Photo: The Ocean Agency / XL Catlin Seaview Survey

A Key Sector Forgotten in the Stimulus Debate: the Nature-Based Economy

In this report, the Campaign for Nature has collated evidence on how protected areas (e.g. national parks, marine protected areas) are in many cases central to local and national economies, and present a strong case for stimulus aid. They need emergency assistance to prevent laying off staff and breaking longstanding covenants with local communities, which also need support because the near shutdown of protected areas has left them without many basic services. Tourism to protected areas is often the main driver of jobs and income in rural and coastal communities, and protected area tourism revenues fund local community clinics, job training, and social safety nets. Despite this concerning evidence, the nature-based economy has been overlooked in stimulus discussions so far.

Nature is an Economic Winner for COVID-19 Recovery (WRI)

This article makes the case for mainstreaming biodiversity in development and stimulus packages as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Making strong arguments supporting the inclusion of climate and biodiversity-positive elements, the piece focuses on the 750 billion euro "European Green Deal" as an example of the kind of longer-term, visionary thinking that is critically needed at this moment. 

4 Investments to Secure Ocean Health and Wealth

Ocean-based industries are worth at least 3.5% of global GDP, a value the OECD predicted will double by 2030. More than 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods and more than 350 million jobs are linked to the ocean worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic is putting this ocean economy in peril. 

The encouraging news is that there are solutions that can improve our ocean while growing economies. A sustainable ocean economy — premised on effective protection, sustainable production and equitable prosperity — should be at the heart of building back better in the wake of COVID-19.

Photo: Knut Troim/Unsplash

Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications

In the most comprehensive report to date on the economic implications of protecting nature, over 100 economists and scientists find that the global economy would benefit from the establishment of far more protected areas on land and at sea than exist today. The report considers various scenarios of protecting at least 30% of the world’s land and ocean to find that the benefits outweigh the costs by a ratio of at least 5-to-1. The report offers new evidence that the nature conservation sector drives economic growth, delivers key non-monetary benefits and is a net contributor to a resilient global economy.

Photo: The Ocean Agency

Environmental destruction not avoided with the Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were designed to reconcile environmental protection with socioeconomic development. This study has compared SDG indicators to a suite of external measures, showing that while most countries are progressing well towards environmental SDGs, this has little relationship with actual biodiversity conservation, and instead better represents socioeconomic development. If this continues, the SDGs will likely serve as a smokescreen for further environmental destruction throughout the decade.

The Role of Ocean Finance in Transitioning to a Blue Economy in Asia and the Pacific

The sustainable development of many economies in Asia and the Pacific depends on healthy oceans.

The “blue economy” is an emerging concept that promotes the sustainability of economic activities that use or affect ocean resources.

Ocean finance is essential to transition to a blue economy by defining standards and metrics, developing a pipeline of bankable ocean investments, innovating finance instruments, mobilizing capital, aligning taxes and subsidies, and strengthening policy, knowledge, and capacity.

Read the article here

Policies in practice: Ocean Policies (OECD)

Explore OECD’s Policies in practice, demonstrating real-world ocean policy action. Search for examples from all over the globe extracted from OECD’s cross-cutting ocean-related publications, including marine biodiversity and ecosystem services, coastal adaptation and resilience, fisheries and aquaculture, marine plastics pollution and sustainable ocean finance.

Access the portal here