The #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment
The #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment ensures that a regenerating and sustainable ocean has a seat at the table in finance and insurance decisions.
The current cumulative value of the assets under management covered by the Commitment is $3.45 trillion. The Commitment has been endorsed by AXA, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Mirova, Eurazeo, WTW and Palladium.
#BackBlue is an initiative led by ORRAA, with the World Economic Forum (WEF) ACT Ocean as an Anchor Partner.
The Commitment has already led to significant changes within financial institutions, and was listed as a formal outcome of the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF), a special event of the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in 2025.
The #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment
Endorsers commit to #BackBlue by taking specific actions, including:
- Setting Robust Net Zero Commitments and adopting science-based targets to reach net zero no later than 2050.
- 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.
- 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) ocean sector guidance, 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.
- 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.
- Joining the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance and/or the sustainable finance community at the World Economic Forum 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.
#BackBlue brochure
From Red Lines to Blue Lines
From Red Lines to Blue Lines, Redrawing How We Invest in a Regenerative Blue Economy is a new report, published by ORRAA in collaboration with the WEF ACT Ocean and UNEP Finance Initiative. It provides clear guidance to financial institutions on how they can transition and align their investment portfolios towards a regenerative and sustainable ocean.
The report includes a foreword by Pascal Lamy, Coordinator of the Instituts Jacques Delors and former Director General of the WTO, Trevor Manuel, Chair of the Africa Expert Panel and former Finance Minister of South Africa, and Professor Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science and former Finance Minister of Chile. They assert that “Future-proofing global prosperity requires understanding the planetary-financial systems nexus. A regenerative and sustainable blue economy offers a pathway to align these systems.”
The report also includes a scientific synthesis by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Future Earth Secretariat and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research which, for the first time, examines Planetary Boundaries at the intersection with the Ocean.
The report gives the financial community an outline of the Blue Line investment opportunities to turn the tide towards investment, opportunity and ocean regeneration.
#BackBlue Endorsers
#BackBlue Anchor Partner
