The protection and restoration of seas and oceans requires the development of “blue economy”, that is to say sustainable economic activities, and “blue finance” to finance investment in these activities.
The UN Ocean Conference in Nice from 9 to 13 June is the major global political event on ocean protection. This conference is preceded by a meeting of the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEEF) in Monaco on 7 and 8 June, which aims to open new perspectives for the blue economy and finance.
A few days before these major meetings, we see that the development of blue finance, especially on private funds, is more difficult than in other areas of sustainable finance, and still represents clearly insufficient amounts. However, specific solutions and progress are emerging which should be accelerated.
These two meetings could be a decisive step to accelerate the development of blue finance.
1) Blue economy and blue finance
Blue finance provides funds (grants, subsidies, loans, capital investments, guarantees...) for sustainable projects and investments in the blue economy, that is to say in the following activities in the maritime and coastal sector:
- protection and restoration of ecosystems,
- marine regenerative economy,
- depollution (industrial waste, plastics etc.)
- recycling (plastics, for example),
- sustainable fishing and fight against overfishing (including through technological innovation: satellites, AI...),
- sustainable aquaculture,
- other seafood products, such as seaweed,
- sustainable tourism,
- sustainable marine transport and progressive decarbonisation of marine transport,
- submarine cables,
- marine renewable energies (offshore wind and solar, solar desalination, hydraulic turbines...).
On the other hand, blue finance does not fund polluting or carbon-intensive marine activities such as offshore oil or gas, nor traditional activities when they damage the environment: overfishing, overtourism, polluting activities...
2) The amounts of blue finance are much too low compared to the stakes
It is difficult to have a complete view of the amount of «blue» financing, but the different studies on this subject all give low amounts and converge on the fact that blue finance comes mostly from public sources (states, communities), para-public (multilateral development banks), foundations and NGOs. The private financial sector has a much smaller contribution.
The Blue Invest (fund funded by the European Commission) report of March 2024 estimates the total annual amount of blue funding at €21 billion over the last 10 years, including €16.8 billion from national or international public sources and €4.2 billion from private finance. If this amount is compared to the estimated world gross ocean product (GWP), which is between $2,000 and $3,000 billion, blue funding would represent between 0.7% and 1% of this GWP each year.
The report also estimates that €147 billion would be needed per year by 2030, leaving a net need of €126 billion. For example, the net need to fund marine protected areas, an essential tool for protecting/restoring marine ecosystems, is estimated at $780 million per year for the Mediterranean alone.
3) Private sector participation in blue finance is essential, but faces specific challenges
On the one hand, as has just been recalled, financing needs are very high and public funds, as well as those of foundations and NGOs, are not sufficient.
On the other hand, the protection and restoration of ecosystems must be accompanied by sustainable economic development in order to consolidate this protection and restoration.
It is essential to create jobs and income, especially when it is necessary to stop or reduce installed activities that are harmful to the maritime sector: polluting plant, overfishing, overtourism, overabundant use of plastics... And the private financial sector is indispensable to finance these projects, which is neither the role nor the expertise of public authorities or foundations or NGOs.
However, the private financial sector is encountering specific difficulties. These projects are often very localized and can only be done in partnership with public authorities (responsible for the maritime sector that cannot be privatized) and the populations concerned, sometimes through complex negotiations that take time.
These are often small projects, whereas international financial institutions in developed countries prefer to finance large-scale projects because of their fixed costs. Finally, most of these projects are located in developing countries, where the financial risk is higher.
To overcome these challenges, public-private partnerships are most often needed.
4) Recent progress and an emerging ecosystem, including funding for innovation
In an article published in July 2024, I recalled some recent and significant progress in the development of blue finance:
- The publication of guidelines on Blue Bonds in 2023 by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and guidelines for Blue Loans (blue loans) by the International Finance Corporation in cooperation with ICMA and the Asian Development Bank; these two publications provide a clear framework to facilitate the use of this financial instrument;
- The development of specialized investment funds, especially in Europe;
- The execution of several operations to exchange public debt of developing coastal states for investments in the protection and restoration of their maritime domain.
Other progress can be seen today, even if their immediate impact is not always visible and if it remains insufficient.
First, there is an increased interest of financial and non-financial companies in the blue economy and blue finance, in line with the development of an international legal framework for the protection and restoration of the ocean.
There were 3,000 private sector representatives at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia. In addition, the large financial and non-financial companies of the European Union have published for the first time this year numerous data describing their climate and data describing their climate and environmental impact, as well as non-European companies on a voluntary basis (in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures, TNFD). Large companies involved in the maritime sector will gradually gain a better understanding of the sustainability issues facing this sector and will be encouraged to work towards preserving and restoring it.
Public development banks continue to play an important and welcome role. They provide long-term loans at favorable rates and are accustomed to working with the public authorities of the countries they finance, particularly in developing countries where they can provide technical assistance, as well as facilitating decision-making and cooperation with other funders, including foundations and private actors. Between 2019 and 2023, the EIB lent €7.3 billion to the Blue Economy, which together with other public and private funds generated more than €30 billion of investment. The World Bank is also active in this field: it has a blue portfolio of $8 billion, including low-interest loans in poor countries. It often works in partnership not only with public authorities, but also with foundations and private financiers. Many coastal development programs in developing countries, for example in Africa, are being developed through the involvement of multilateral development banks.
Providing government guarantees to blue finance is a useful means of reducing the risk of private capital and mobilizing it. In the EU, blue finance can benefit from guarantees provided by the EU budget to the EIB and national public development banks for the InvestEU programme.
In July 2024, € 58 million had been invested in 5 investment funds. The granting of public guarantees has also played a decisive role in the exchange of debt for nature in the maritime field.
The creation of multiple funds to invest in the blue economy is also encouraging, especially in the European Union. The BlueInvest report in March 2024 listed 30 blue funds for a total value of €5.6 billion. These funds invest in particular in start-ups developing innovations beneficial to the blue economy. This number has grown sharply since then, as illustrated by the Blue Invest Day organised by the European Commission and the EIB in Brussels in March 2025. During this day, leaders of innovative start-ups in the blue economy presented their projects to representatives of about fifty specialized funds to try to obtain their participation in the financing of these projects. The diversity of innovations already funded and projects presented was remarkable.
If we add up the various blue financing in the European Union, their amount reached 8 billion € in 2024, double the amount of 2023, figures cited by Commissioner Kadis during BlueInvest Day.
Conclusion: need to accelerate and importance of the Nice Ocean Conference and the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco.
The recent progress of blue finance, and particularly the participation of the private financial sector, is significant but must be significantly accelerated to save the ocean.
The UN conference in Nice is an essential step to support this acceleration. At a time of intense geopolitical turmoil, when commitments to the environment and climate are being called into question in the United States, but also by some countries and several stakeholders in the European Union, an affirmation that ocean conservation remains a priority for most countries will encourage the public and private sectors to increase their investments in the blue economy.
The meeting of the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) in Monaco, just before the Nice Conference, is another probably important step for the blue economy and finance. It will involve all relevant actors at the global level: governments, innovators, coastal communities, multilateral institutions, financial and non-financial companies, civil society, foundations. A large number of very concrete innovative projects should be financed there. It should also be a great opportunity for exchange of information and good practices, especially in the technological innovations that abound in this field as well as in their financing.
Bibliography:
Europe Jacques Delors: “Blue economy: new approaches to restoring marine biodiversity”, Renaud Lassus, March 2024
BluInvest: “An ocean of opportunities”, PwC for the European Commission, March 2024
Europe Jacques Delors: “Blue Finance: Expansion Needed for a Major Issue”, July 2024
Word Economic Forum: “4 reasons why 2025 can be a breakthrough year for the regenerative Blue Economy”, January 2025
Standard Chartered: “Towards a sustainable ocean: where there is a will, there is a wave”, April 2025