The #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment

Driving investment into coastal and marine natural capital

In order to deliver the UN Race to Resilience’s goals of building the resilience of four billion people from groups and communities who are vulnerable to climate risks by 2030, the The World Economic Forum’s Ocean Action Agenda to catalyse public-private partnerships to accelerate ambitious solutions for a regenerative and sustainable ocean economy, and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance’s objective of securing USD$500m of investment into coastal and marine natural capital by 2030 to mitigate risk and build the resilience of at least 250 million people in communities adapting to climate change, the undersigned businesses commit to #BackBlue by taking specific actions including:

1. Setting Robust Net Zero Commitments by joining a race to zero financial initiative (e.g., Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative, Net Zero Banking Alliance or Net Zero Insurance Alliance) and by adopting science based targets to reach net zero no later than 2050 in line with the criteria of the UN’s Race to Zero campaign.
2. Driving financial system policy change by adopting corporate ESG standards and disclosures that align with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and adopting taxonomies on sustainable economic activities that define common and clear criteria for classifying ocean-linked projects and investments as sustainable.
3. Investing in nature-positive outcomes for the ocean based on the UN Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles and/or Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), that drive investment into coastal and marine nature that halt biodiversity loss and sustain and build the benefits that these ecosystems provide, while preserving and improving livelihoods.
4. Accelerating the transition towards a healthy and sustainable ocean through lending, investment, and insurance practices that mitigate ocean risk and build the resilience of climate vulnerable coastal communities, supporting work to raise an initial USD$500m of investment into coastal nature by 2030, to create scalable and investable finance and insurance projects and products.
5. Joining the ocean risk and resilience action alliance so that together we can meet the challenges posed by ocean risk by pioneering new and innovative finance products that focus on driving investment into ocean and coastal natural capital that reduce risk and build a sustainable, resilient ocean and regenerate its biodiversity.