Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate 

A new study about marine protected areas (MPAs) was recently published that will help steer high-level discussions for biodiversity goals over the next decade. Global targets have sought to protect 10% of the ocean by 2020[1], and upcoming talks at CBD COP 15 will decide if those goals should be extended to 30% by 2030.

The new study, “Protecting the ocean for biodiversity, food and climate,” lead by scientists from the National Geographic Pristine Seas program (among numerous other collaborators), evaluated how best to distribute marine protection in the future to maximize benefits in terms of conserving wildlife, fisheries, and carbon sequestration. Among many hypothetical scenarios around those benefits, they found that, under the study’s assumptions, 90% of biodiversity benefits could be achieved by a globally coordinated MPA network that effectively protects 21% of the global ocean. Furthermore, if countries pursued their own priorities independently, without global coordination, we would need to protect 44% of the ocean to achieve the same biodiversity impact. A multi-priority approach that equally balances food provisioning against biodiversity conservation would achieve 71% of biodiversity benefits, 92% of food provisioning benefits, and 29% of carbon benefits by protecting 45% of the ocean. The results demonstrate the importance of international partnerships and highlights the importance of finding a balance between area versus quality. The common concern is that a lack of MPA effectiveness combined with the tendency of establishing MPAs only in politically expedient areas undermines their potential to conserve biodiversity and support maritime economies worldwide.

From a biodiversity finance perspective, there are two major takeaways from this paper. First, international collaboration and coordination could drastically reduce the amount of MPAs needed to reach biodiversity goals. The coordinated placement of new MPAs combined with increasing effective management could mean less financial capital is required for establishing and operating marine protected areas than previously believed. In addition, the study found that a multi-goal oriented, internationally collaborative MPA network could reach biodiversity goals while also improving future prospects for fisheries, and up to 71% of the ocean could be protected at zero net cost to fisheries. Opportunity costs for fishers have long been a concern of expanding MPAs and this shows that, again with the proper international planning and cooperation, that fisheries could even benefit from well planned MPA networks and even approaches that prioritize biodiversity conservation could come at minimal cost. It also weakens the argument for continuing harmful fishery subsidies if marine conservation goals can come at minimal financial impact.

But perhaps the most surprising results were those demonstrating how bottom-trawling and dredging, fishing techniques that drag gear along the bottom of the ocean kicking up carbon rich sediment, may currently release 580 million metric tons of aqueous CO2 per year. Much of this is emitted into the atmosphere and is equal to more than half the annual emissions from air travel, not to mention implications for ocean acidification and the ability for the sea to absorb carbon. If these fishing methods were curtailed, that scale of emissions reduction could also be valued at tens of billions of dollars per year, some of which could be leveraged by MPAs via carbon credits generated from protecting the seabed from dredging and other activities that disturb the sediment. There are of course substantial legislative and market barriers in the way of realizing this income, but it is nonetheless exciting because it has the potential to deliver more than enough income to financially support the expansion and long term operations for all the world’s MPAs, most of which are ineffective largely due to insufficient funds.

  • Written by John Bohorquez

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. 

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

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

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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.

The Little Book of Investing in Nature

The Little Book of Investing in Nature provides an essential overview of the area of biodiversity finance at a time when governments and international negotiators are urgently seeking pragmatic solutions for the twin crises of climate change and the loss of nature.

Financing the protection for our natural world is a challenge that governments around the world have struggled to meet. Current estimates suggest there is a global shortfall of USD 824 billion. But The Little Book of Investing in Nature provides a simple guide for policy makers and investors as to how this shortfall can be overcome.

World Ocean Council 2020 Sustainable Ocean Summit: Report now available

Since 2010 the World Ocean Council (WOC) has been bringing the diverse international Blue Economy industry and investment world together at the Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS). In 2020, this unique event focused the global ocean business community on the theme of "Ocean Vision 2030: The Decade for Ocean Action" for sustainable development, in the WOC's first virtual SOS.

With "Ocean Action" as the focus of the SOS 2020, each session explored a key topic and identified priorities for advancing progress in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the ocean. The sessions were working meetings for developing outputs to drive industry and investment action on the session's issue for the year to come.

The SOS 2020 was designed for each session to address:
- The status of the issue and developments during the past year
- The priority needs and opportunities for ocean business and investment community collaboration and action on the issue
- What could and should be undertaken on the issue in the coming year (and the role of WOC in advancing that progress

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.

Release of World Bank's "Tools and Resources for Nature Based Tourism"

Nature-based tourism (NBT) plays an important role in sustainable development. It can support poverty alleviation, economic growth, and biodiversity conservation and contribute to key global agreements and frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. NBT’s singular potential to create jobs and growth, while protecting wildlife and ecosystems, makes it an enticing prospect for developing countries seeking to align those interests. The Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) Community of Practice (CoP) was launched in December 2017 as an internal World Bank Group (WBG) community, whose focus is to help develop the NBT agenda within the Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy (ENB) Global Practice. The NBT CoP has facilitated collaboration and learning through a mix of knowledge products and services. The NBT CoP commissioned a comprehensive review of the tools and knowledge resources that could be used by practitioners in the field of NBT, to prepare and implement projects that promote sustainable NBT practices and policies.

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.

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.