Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
News
Dear ORRAA Members and Friends,
As we continue to drive forward our mission, the past quarter has been marked by both significant achievements and urgent reminders of the opportunities and challenges that we face.
Since June, the ORRAA theme has been on “Building Resilient Coastal Communities,” a focus that has resonated deeply with our Members.
September also marks the 5th anniversary of the launch of the Alliance at the Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019. Happy Anniversary to all of us!
We are looking forward to seeing many of you at our second member meeting in New York during Climate Week later this month to celebrate what we have achieved, and to plan forward to deliver the big change that our planet needs.
Our growing Alliance is proving to be a powerful force for good, bringing together expertise from finance, insurance, governments, multilaterals and civil society. This collaborative strength is more critical than ever as the urgency of our work becomes increasingly clear.
ORRAA is at a really unique point in its journey. We are about to enter an expansion phase which brings a lot of exciting opportunities for growth and increased impact. Enabling scale successfully requires intentionality and care to ensure we grow in a way that best supports our mission, amplifies our culture and develops our team, so we have several exciting changes to share: two new board members; youth advisors and new staff – see the New Team Members section below to find out more.
We are delighted also to share that we have now reached 100 members with Lloyd’s and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) – joining us to mark this significant milestone. Other new members include ABALOBI, AFO Tanzania, California Ocean Science Trust, Ocean 14 Capital, PescaData, S2G Ventures, WaterAid Nigeria and Zoological Society of London. Welcome aboard!!
Looking ahead, we are gearing up for a dynamic autumn filled with key engagements, including New York Climate Week, the Global Nature Positive Summit, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Biodiversity COP16, and Climate COP29. We are thrilled to be welcoming our members for a day of radical collaboration, inspiring voices, and activating our Alliance towards collective action at our second ORRAA member meeting in New York next week – with a huge thank you to our lead global banking partner, Deutsche Bank, for hosting us all at their beautiful offices.
These gatherings are critical as we build momentum toward the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference next June, aligning our Alliance and the broader ocean community as we scale our work and demonstrate solutions in action. ORRAA’s Marianne Carpentier recently provided an insightful overview of the BEFF during an Informational Meeting led by the Ocean and Climate Platform on UNOC.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to connect with the team, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
See you in the Big Apple!
Karen & the ORRAA team
Quarterly highlights
Webinar: Coral Reef Finance: Insights into the GFCR Investment Principles
In June, Senior Blue Finance Advisor Torsten Thiele represented ORRAA at an event hosted by our member the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), highlighting the importance of ensuring high quality investments in coral reefs. You can explore the GFCR Investment Principles here.
Race to Resilience Impact Measurement Workshop on Natural Systems
In July, ORRAA’s Lindsay Getschel, Winnie Mwea, and Linda Ntsiful presented at a Race to Resilience workshop, where they showcased our work developing metrics and impact indicators for building coastal resilience. This collaboration with Race to Resilience allows us to share knowledge and best practices, ensuring that the solutions we support deliver tangible, measurable outcomes for communities.
Solution Lab: The Business Case for Restoring Mangroves and their Role in Aquaculture
Also in July, we hosted an ORRAA Solution Lab, in partnership with our members Van Oord and Conservation International, focusing on financing pathways for mangrove restoration. The session brought ORRAA members and partners together to discuss how these essential ecosystems can be integrated into sustainable aquaculture practices. For more information on this discussion, please drop a note to secretariat@oceanriskalliance.org.
Webinar: Tripling Ambition: Advancing Offshore Renewables for Climate Ocean Action
In August, ORRAA participated in a G20 Ocean Dialogue hosted by ORRAA member, Ocean Conservancy, where former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry set the stage with opening remarks, a detailed discussion by representatives from various sectors on the potential for offshore renewables investment and development, followed by a closing statement from ORRAA’s Executive Director, Karen Sack. The dialogue highlighted the vast potential of offshore renewables, with ONLY one operational offshore wind farm in an emerging economy outside China, underscoring a critical gap in investment.
ORRAA Board Member and former Maldives’ Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology, Shauna Aminath recently shared her insights on the visible impacts of climate change in the Maldives, in both the Business Times’ Lens on Singapore podcast and at Bloomberg’s Sustainable Business Summit; and Karen Sack emphasised the importance of the Loss and Damage financing discussions at COP29 in a Dialogue Earth article.
The Ocean Resilience Innovation Challenge (ORIC) Leadership Academy took place in London earlier this month. ORIC is ORRAA’s product pipeline incubator, engaging up to 10 early-stage, locally-led projects, five of which are selected for investment and further support after 12 months of mentoring and leadership training. This event brought together our ORIC project partners from around the globe, offering a platform for sharing insights, best practices and invaluable mentorship. The investor summit that followed showcased the potential of these projects to scale and drive meaningful impact.
New Team Members
We are thrilled to welcome two esteemed individuals to the ORRAA Inc. Board of Directors: Dr Naoko Ishii, founding director of the Center for Global Commons at the University of Tokyo and former CEO of the Global Environment Facility, and Dr Robert Blasiak, Associate Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and lead for the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS). Their expertise in nature finance, valuation, and ocean stewardship will be invaluable to our mission.
We are excited to introduce two new Youth Advisors to our Steering Council: Rayne Sullivan, founder of Seastoria and former UN Youth4Climate representative for the U.S., and Ellyanne Wanjiku Chlystun, East Africa’s Youngest Climate Change Ambassador. Their perspectives will be essential to ensuring our mission delivers a more sustainable, regenerative, and resilient future.
The ORRAA team continues to grow, and we are delighted to welcome aboard several new crew members:
Angelique Pouponneau, former CEO of SeyCATT, is now serving as our SIDS Engagement Consultant. We are excited to have such a dynamic team driving our mission forward.
Cowyk Fox stepping in as our new Chief Operating Officer. With over two decades of experience in retail banking, Cowyk has held executive positions including CEO, COO, CRO and CFO where he has developed and implemented growth and turnaround strategies across the value chain.
Melissa Walsh is joining us as Blue Finance and Scaling Director to lead our work on 30×30 finance, the Blue Bond Incubator and other Sea Change Impact Financing Facility instruments. Prior to ORRAA, Melissa was Head of Ocean Finance at the Minderoo Foundation and Director of the Ocean Finance Initiative for the Asian Development Bank.
Maya Delaney has joined us as our new Octopus Desk, Project Lead;
Lucie Galinon is onboard as Project Officer for the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF),
Board Member
East Africa’s Youngest Climate Change Amb. & ORRAA Youth Advisor
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Outreach
Board Member
Chief Operating Officer
Octopus Desk, Project Lead
SEASTORIA, Founder & ORRAA Youth Advisor
Blue Finance & Scaling Director
Project Officer for the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF)
The true power and strength of our Alliance lies in our members.
We achieve far more working together than we ever could alone.
Blue Alliance joins ORRAA’s SCIFF
ORRAA member, Blue Alliance’s Blue Finance Facility for Marine Protected Areas is now one of the financial instruments that is part of ORRAA’s Sea Change Impact Financing Facility (SCIFF). This innovative financial instrument focuses on regenerating marine biodiversity and fostering the sustainable Blue Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
State of the World’s Mangroves 2024
On World Mangrove Day in June, IUCN alongside Global Mangrove Watch, released “The State of the World’s Mangroves 2024” report. This report, created in collaboration with key partners, provides a detailed analysis of the drivers of mangrove loss globally – namely aquaculture, oil palm plantations, and rice cultivation- and offers an essential monitoring tool to identify where mangroves are being protected and where they are at risk.
Race To Resilience and Save The Waves: Surf’s Up, Risks Down
In collaboration with the Climate Champions, ORRAA worked on this case study showcasing our Project Delivery Partner, Save The Waves. The study highlights how bold insurance strategies can preserve surfing hotspots in the face of climate threats, demonstrating the innovative approaches needed to protect our coastal communities and ecosystems.
Ocean Conservancy Launches Report on Financing Offshore Wind
In collaboration with ORRAA, Ocean Conservancy released a groundbreaking report on “Catalysing Offshore Wind in Developing Nations: The Role of Concessional Finance” at a side event during the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July.
This report sheds light on the significant financing gap faced by developing countries and SIDS and explores pathways to channel more investment into offshore wind – USD$10 billion in concessional finance could ignite the pathfinder projects needed to establish this market and bridge the investment gap. This study was part of their in-kind contribution as a member of ORRAA and a prime example of how collaboration can scale our collective impact.
The Nature Conservancy Partners to Create MPA Finance Toolkit
Despite their immense ecological, social, and economic value, nearly two-thirds of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world lack the funding necessary for effective management. To address this challenge, The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with the Blue Nature Alliance, has worked with the Reef Resilience Network to develop an MPA Finance Toolkit.
This resource serves as a crucial guide for marine managers and practitioners, offering an introduction to MPA finance and a comprehensive overview of various financing mechanisms, along with practical guidance on prioritising and implementing these mechanisms.
Marine 30×30 Finance Principles with Minderoo Foundation
With leadership from Minderoo Foundation and a diverse group of global collaborators, we have worked to co-develop the Principles for Marine 30×30 Finance. These Principles are designed to empower national governments to create financial plans that support the implementation of marine 30×30 targets, advancing global efforts to protect 30% of our Ocean by 2030.
Island Innovation Hosts Virtual Island Summit
Last week, ORRAA Observer Member, Island Innovation, hosted the annual Virtual Island Summit, bringing together over 100 island communities from around the world for a week of unparalleled knowledge-sharing and collaboration. We were pleased to be an Official Partner of the Summit, driving a focus towards the financing of sustainable and regenerative blue economies for islands. Our partner, Rocky Sanchez-Tirona at Rare, provided key insights during a panel discussion on the importance small-scale fisheries to islands and her work to ensure fishers are financially resilient.
Members can stay connected and share their news through the ORRAA LinkedIn Comms Community Group. If you’d like to join, drop us a line at secretariat@oceanriskalliance.org.
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