The Sea Change Impact Financing Facility (SCIFF)
The Sea Change Impact Financing Facility (SCIFF) is a collaborative effort to develop an open ocean financing architecture designed to drive at least USD$1 billion of private investment into coastal and ocean ecosystems, with a focus on the Global South, by 2030. This will provide a springboard from which to mobilise at least USD$2.5 billion of broader finance capital.
The SCIFF complements ORRAA’s work to grow an investable product pipeline from the ground-up, by developing large-scale investment vehicles to finance a regenerative and sustainable blue economy. It will also integrate sustainable blue finance into broader climate and biodiversity finance. This will be crucial in making investments in planetary health – both on land and at sea – second nature.
ORRAA launched the SCIFF concept at the One Ocean Summit hosted by President Macron in Brest, France, in early 2022. The Alliance has worked since then to further develop the vision to accelerate and unlock investment, to innovate and scale.
ORRAA will be working together with its members on a blue finance delivery roadmap between now and 2025. This will include developing financial instruments, bridging policy frameworks, building financial literacy, and developing pathways and scalable tools to unlock financing for coastal and ocean resilience and regeneration.
SCIFF’s Sectors:
The SCIFF is focused on investing into ocean, coastal nature and resilience that builds the adaptative capacity of communities, drives biodiversity positive outcomes and is integral to securing comprehensive climate-smart solutions. Its various instruments focus on six sectors:
SCIFF’s financial instruments:
Looking forward to 2025, ORRAA’s main objective is to develop the core instruments of a coherent sustainable ocean financing ecosystem.
This multi-layered facility will provide an architecture that complements and responds to efforts already underway.
ORRAA is now navigating forward by focusing on the deployment of five new blue financing instruments over the next three years:
Outrigger Ocean Impact Fund
A dedicated ocean impact fund focused on investing into sustainable and regenerative blue economy Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Small Island Developing States to tackle the ‘missing middle’ (USD$1 – USD$10 million ticket size) financing gap.
Feasibility Complete. Establishment Phase underway. Working towards a first close of the Fund in the middle of 2024 and currently engaging with cornerstone investors.
Nautilus The Blue Guarantee Company
A means of de-risking investments into sustainable blue economy sectors through the provision of guarantees.
Feasibility Complete. Establishment Phase underway in partnership with the Development Guarantee Group.
Octopus Desk
A blue blended finance marketplace platform connecting eligible blue resilience project developers with investment partners seeking environmental, social and financial returns. Enabling sustainable blue economy transaction match-making and technical assistance for investors and project developers.
Development Phase: Ongoing in partnership with Investable Oceans.
Neptune Fund
A single donation to The Neptune Fund will work towards ocean conservation action for the next 8-10 years. It is an expendable endowment that allows both capital and income to be spent on ocean conservation, thereby providing reliable, long-term support to locally-led ocean conservation for some of the most threatened and overlooked marine species and ecosystems.
For organisations supported by the fund, longer term core operational support means better planning for annual funding cycles, ultimately making them more effective by supporting the knowledge, culture, and experience of local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Initially, the fund will focus mainly on investments into Southeast Asia, Melanesia and the East Indian Ocean, regions with exceptionally high levels of marine biodiversity, but which face key gaps in resourcing. Neptune has grown from an initial investment of USD$50,000 to a USD$500,000 facility in under a year.
Established. Discover more here.
Blue Finance Facility for Marine Protected Areas
A groundbreaking financial vehicle to regenerate marine biodiversity and develop the sustainable blue economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia.
Catalytic capital, channelled through an existing non-profit vehicle, is primarily directed to finance MPA management entities until they become financially sustainable through long-term revenues from reef-positive businesses. Refundable grants and impact loans are channelled through an existing debt facility to social enterprises in responsible ecotourism, community-based aquaculture, blue carbon credits, and sustainable fisheries. Parametric climate insurance, designed for the MPAs and RPBs reduces the risk of investments.
Established. Discover more here.
In addition, the SCIFF team is scoping and assessing the feasibility of two additional cornerstone instruments.
Blue Bond Incubator
Assisting in the development and deployment of blue bonds in SIDS and developing coastal countries through technical and financial services to those countries and companies looking to issue blue bonds.
[Feasibility Phase]
Discover more here: Project Summary and Concept Note
30×30 Ocean Regeneration and Resilience Facility
Assessing the feasibility of an insurance premium levy on the core business classes using the Ocean to cover the costs of 30×30 designation, monitoring and enforcement, as well as post-disaster resilience rebuilding for SIDS and LDCs. Feasibility work starts in January 2024.
[Feasibility Phase]