Dear ORRAA Members and Friends,
2025 certainly has been an intense and busy year – a whip-saw of political upheavals, multilateral challenges and milestone moments for ocean governance. Most notably for the Ocean, the High Seas Treaty achieved enough ratifications so that it will enter into force in January, and then it won the Earthshot Prize!
What is also clear is the unstoppable uplift of focus on regenerative and sustainable ocean finance, pushing us forward to build community resilience and drive implementation action.
This past month in Brazil, the UNFCCC’s COP30 did not deliver the ambition we need, — but it did reaffirm the direction we must take. Many stakeholders, including ORRAA members, consistently stood up for a more ambitious outcome on transitioning away from fossil fuels and in support of greater adaptation and resilience action. We saw wins for the Ocean community, including the first Mangrove Breakthrough ministerial and increased recognition of ocean-climate action in NDCs. Progress now depends on adhering to the clear science, implementation action, finance for resilience, adaptation, mitigation, and partnerships. You can see our full reflections on the COP here.
For Island States, keeping the 1.5C limit alive is existential – a point our island state members continued to make clear throughout COP30. Our quarter’s theme, “Thriving Islands & Coasts,” has highlighted the importance of scaling finance for coastal resilience and showcased how islands are leading the way to build regenerative blue economy models.
Read on below to see the incredible work that ORRAA and our members are delivering as the finance and insurance products we have been building come to life. In fact, as ORRAA reaches the midpoint towards our 2030 mission, we have, together, activated over USD$116 million of investment into finance and insurance products that deliver coastal resilience and ocean regeneration, and supported more than 342,000 people to be more resilient – nearly half of whom are women. We are also pleased to share that our Alliance now has more than 130 members, welcoming this month the Oceanographic Institute – Prince Albert I of Monaco Foundation, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Coral Reef Alliance.
As we gear up for 2026, the ORRAA Secretariat is “going to the beach” for a well-earned all-team break from 24th December – 2nd January. We look forward to continuing our work with all of you in the New Year, and wish everyone a peaceful, safe and nature-filled 2026!
As always, if you have any questions or have news you would like us to share or amplify, please contact Secretariat@oceanriskalliance.org or post in the LinkedIn Member Community Group.
Karen & the ORRAA team
