Dear ORRAA Members and Friends,
An Alliance in Action in Monaco and Nice
As the sun sets on this Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3), and the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) which came just before, it has been incredibly powerful to see our members making the case, mobilising the capital, and delivering the positive change we need to accelerate a regenerative and sustainable blue economy.
These are my five key takeaways from the last week:
1. The Ocean is living capital. When we invest in its health, we invest in our own.
2. The Ocean is in peril. The window is still open, but it’s closing and fast. We can put our heads in our hands, or we can put our heads and our hands to work.
3. We are closing the distance between the beachfront and the boardroom; to create a capital market for the Ocean that has high integrity and works for our common future.
4. We need to be patient with capital and impatient with action, delivering a regenerative and sustainable blue economy. We need to move further and faster.
5. We are unlocking a trillion-dollar investment opportunity that reduces risk and drives environmental, economic, social and cultural security.
At the BEFF, a total of €8.7 billion was committed to be deployed over the next five years by philanthropists, private investors and public banks, into a regenerative and sustainable blue economy, of which €1 billion has already been deployed or is investment-ready in 2025. In addition, 80 organisations from 25 countries, representing a combined turnover of USD$600 billion, endorsed the ‘Business in Ocean’ call to action, which ORRAA has joined as a supporting organisation. And the #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment, our initiative along with the WEF, was cited as a formal outcome of the BEFF with USD$3.4 trillion of assets under management covered by it. More of this below.
At UNOC3, the BBNJ High Seas Treaty is nearing the 60 ratifications needed to enter into force, with 50 countries having ratified the agreement. Fewer than 10 countries are now needed to ratify the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement for it to come into effect. We are now close to getting these fundamental building blocks for ocean sustainability over the line! In addition, four additional States have joined the call for a precautionary pause on deep-seabed mining, bringing the total to 37. The Nice Ocean Declaration was published as the Conference closed.
We also welcomed six new members including: Antigua and Barbuda – our first SIDS member from the Caribbean; BNP Paribas, Convex Insurance, Eurazeo, Mana Impact, and UNSW Centre for Sustainable Development Reform at our Member Reception at UNOC. Welcome all!
It was great to see many of you in Monaco and Nice, and we look forward to continuing to work together to take decisive, unparalleled, and transformative ocean finance action.
As always, there is still a lot more to do. We are confident that this marks a turning point for ocean finance. Our job now is to make this turning point into a tipping point!
Karen & the ORRAA team
