ORRAA at COP31  

The common thread across 2026 has been a shift in the question: not whether the Ocean belongs in climate action, but how ocean priorities get financed. The milestones below have built that case, and ORRAA has contributed to each one, carrying the message that ocean priorities need fit-for-purpose finance to move from pilots and plans to scaled up action. 

• 10-11 June, Bonn (SB64): UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue 
• 13-14 August, Istanbul: Istanbul Ocean and Seas Workshop  
• 10-11 September, Trabzon: Ocean and Seas Summit 
• 21-22 September, Sydney: SCF Forum on financing climate action for water systems and the ocean (report will be published soon) 
• 22-24 September, New York: New York Climate Week / UNGA high-level week, including a dedicated Oceans Solution Dialogue under Climate Summit for the first time  
• 5-8 October, Fiji and Tuvalu: Pre-COP ministerial meetings and Leaders’ Segment, where Pacific Big Ocean States set the political tone for COP31 on ocean outcome 

The climate action and implementation agenda has also seen advances on the Ocean. 

• Blue Package and Ocean Breakthroughs. The Ocean Breakthroughs define five key tipping points for action by 2030 across marine conservation, food, energy, transport/shipping, and tourism. The Blue Package sets out ocean actions to 2028. Guided by the Ocean Breakthroughs and launched at COP30, the Blue Package is a roadmap for ocean-based climate solutions across the five high-impact sectors. Revisions to the Blue Package is expected by COP31.  
• Blue NDC Challenge and Blue NDC Implementation Taskforce: The Blue NDC Challenge was launched by France and Brazil ahead of COP30 to call on all countries to integrate ocean-based solutions into national climate plans. The Blue NDC Implementation Taskforce was announced at COP30 and will be launched at COP31, to support country members to overcome common implementation barriers. 

Find more information about COP31 from our members and partners: WWF, Ocean & Climate Platform, UNEP FI, IUCN, Conservation International, Environmental Defense Fund. 

The 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP31) takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. For the first time, the Presidency is shared under a partnership agreed at COP30 (Türkiye–Australia Partnership Modalities): 

• Türkiye holds the COP31 Presidency, hosts the conference and the World Leaders’ Summit (11 to 12 November), and leads the COP31 Action Agenda. Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, is COP31 President-Designate. 
• Australia, through Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, is President of Negotiations, with authority to lead the conduct of the negotiations in consultation with Türkiye. 
• The Pacific hosted the Pre-COP with the ministerial meeting in Nadi, Fiji, and a Leaders’ segment in Tuvalu, 5 to 8 October. Pre-COP amplified Pacific leadership and SIDS priorities ahead of Antalya, including keeping 1.5°C within reach, access to finance, and integrating the Ocean into climate plans.  

The Presidency’s theme is a “COP of Implementation”, guided by three principles: dialogue, consensus, and action. Its Action Agenda has ten priority themes, including Ocean and Seas, with finance, technology, and capacity building as cross-cutting enablers to support their translation into practical and scalable implementation pathways.  

Key topics at COP31 relevant to ocean action and financing include: 

• Climate finance delivery. The COP31 Presidencies call for continued focus on delivering the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) and tripling adaptation finance by 2035, and will seek common ground on the future of the two-year climate finance work programme established at COP30.
  Why it matters for the ocean: less than 1% of climate and development finance reaches ocean and coastal solutions, so how these goals are delivered determines whether that share grows. 
• Aligning finance flows (Article 2.1(c)). COP31 will discuss how the UNFCCC can support investment and align financial flows with climate goals, particularly Article 2.1(c) and its complementarity with Article 9.
  Why it matters: this is the negotiated entry point setting policy direction for private and blended finance, where most ocean-economy investment sits. 
• Adaptation. COP31 is expected to advance the Global Goal on Adaptation through the full operationalisation of the Belém-Addis Vision on adaptation, including a technical taskforce on methodologies for the Belém Adaptation Indicators, and to complete the transition of the Adaptation Fund to serve the Paris Agreement exclusively.
  Why it matters: coastal resilience needs to be measurable within these indicators to attract finance. 
• Loss and damage. The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage is expected to approve its first funding requests later this year.
  Why it matters: many of the losses coastal communities and small island developing states (SIDS) already face come from the ocean, such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and declining reefs and fisheries.  
• Paris fundamentals. Parties are encouraged to submit outstanding national climate plans (NDCs and NAPs) and second Biennial Transparency Reports by 31 December 2026. COP31 also marks the start of the second Global Stocktake, which concludes in 2028.
  Why it matters: NDCs and NAPs are where ocean priorities become national commitments, and the second Global Stocktake will test whether those measures were financed and delivered. It concludes in 2028, the same year as UNOC4, so it is a natural checkpoint for ocean finance. 
• Implementation initiatives. The Belém Mission to 1.5 (report to be published soon), the Global Implementation Accelerator, and the COP31 Presidency’s Climate Implementation Bridge (BRIDGE) are presented as complementary implementation initiatives. BRIDGE is a new initiative designed to connect country-owned priorities and project pipelines with finance, technical expertise and implementation partners, with particular attention to developing countries, LDCs and SIDS.
  Why it matters: these initiatives offer a route for the ocean measures already underway in most coastal and island NDCs and NAPs to move into implementation. 
• Access to finance. Australia launched an Access to Finance Statement and Action Plan, with a focus on reducing barriers that delay funding reaching vulnerable communities. The Statement is open to governments and organisations active in climate finance to endorse and implement.
  Why it matters: access to grants and concessional finance is critical for vulnerable communities and countries to implement their ocean and coastal priorities. If ORRAA members and partners are interested in learning more, please contact the ORRAA Secretariat for further information.  
• Electrification. The COP31 President launched a “35 by 35” Global Electrification Pledge at New York Climate Week, inviting Parties to support raising electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035.
  Why it matters: offshore renewables, green ports and shipping electrification are ocean-based routes to the 35 by 35 goal. If well planned, with safeguards and benefit-sharing, they can also generate financing for marine protection. 

The SCF Forum: the first Standing Committee on Finance Forum dedicated to the Ocean 

The Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) is a formal body under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was created by governments to improve how climate finance is mobilised, coordinated, and delivered, especially to the Global South. The SCF holds an annual Forum which serves as a global platform for technical exchange on specific climate finance themes across climate finance actors. 

The 2026 Forum was held in Sydney on 21 to 22 September, hosted by Australia in partnership with Pacific Island countries and the Philippines. It was the first SCF Forum to focus on ocean-related climate finance. 

ORRAA contributed a written submission in January, and Melissa Walsh, ORRAA’s Director of Blue Finance Innovation, moderated the Ocean action group on matching solutions to barriers. Key messages emerging from the Forum include: 

• Make existing structures work better rather than creating new ones. Fragmentation across sectors, ministries, levels of government and finance windows was a consistently cited problem. The proposed fix was better coordination, not new institutions. 
• Project preparation is the missing link between policy and finance. Without well-prepared projects there is no investable pipeline. Participants called for dedicated technical assistance, early involvement of financiers in project design, and lasting local capacity, including support tailored to SIDS and LDCs. 
• Match the type of finance to the problem. Much of ocean protection is a public good that will not generate a financial return. Participants stressed using grants, concessional and private finance deliberately, and raised concerns about debt sustainability for vulnerable countries. 
• Access and local design matter as much as volume. Even where finance exists, slow and demanding access processes keep it from those closest to the problem. Local and Indigenous communities should help design how finance is accessed and used, not only benefit from it. 

The SCF’s report of the Forum is expected shortly.  

Pre-COP: the Pacific sets the tone for Antalya 

The Pre-COP ministerial meeting took place in Nadi, Fiji, with a Leaders’ segment in Tuvalu, from 5 to 8 October. The outcomes of Pre-COP for the Ocean included: 

• The Taku Pakasoa Declaration: Pre-COP endorsed the Declaration, which includes a dedicated recognition of the ocean–climate nexus and welcomes UNFCCC efforts to strengthen ocean solutions across climate action. 
• An Antalya Ocean Declaration in the works: Pre-COP confirmed ocean-climate action will be a key focus at COP31 and Türkiye confirmed it will work towards an Antalya Ocean Declaration at COP31 to strengthen recognition of the ocean–climate nexus and advance ocean-based climate solutions. Pre-COP also built support for a focused Presidency-led COP31 decision to keep 1.5°C within reach, which would cover practical action including forests, oceans and waterways.