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Virginia Tudorancea

How to develop an enabling environment to finance sustainable economic activity in conjunction with ocean conservation

Economist Impact’s 11th annual World Ocean Summit launched the “How to” working group sessions this year.

The purpose of the sessions was to create a set of action points and practical takeaways for individuals and organisations committed to restoring ocean health. These sessions, for small, focused groups of subject-matter experts and a carefully picked audience were interactive, engaging and solution oriented. This report, led by Standard Chartered, shares the key takeaways from the speakers and audience.

A series of conservation targets and industry-specific decarbonisation goals have been set for 2030. Achieving these means combining sustainable economic activity with ocean conservation. There is no single bullet to reach the targets—but there is more chance of success with an integrated approach. This session explored how to develop financing mechanisms to achieve conservation and decarbonisation goals. Speakers and participants discussed how to create solutions from the bottom up as well from the top down.

The session also discussed what can sovereigns do to create mechanisms for the sustainable ocean economy and ocean conservation, by working on debt-for-nature swaps and blue bonds? How can local community organisations develop innovative mechanisms with impact from the bottom up? The working group discussed how to get ministries, central banks, philanthropists and the private sector on the same page, to provide certainty and make deals go faster. Participants shared ideas on how to demonstrate to stakeholders the potential trajectory of small projects, and the opportunities for scaling.

The summary report and key takeaways of this session can be found here.