GFCR Formalises an Institutional Partnership with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance

New York, 30 June 2021 – The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) Executive Board has endorsed an Institutional Partnership with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). 

Launched at the United Nations’ Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019, ORRAA is a multi-sector collaboration between governments, financial institutions, the insurance industry, environmental organisations and stakeholders from the Global South. Their purpose is to unlock and incentivise greater private investments and blended finance into coastal natural capital by pioneering ground-breaking products that both address ocean risk and build resilience in the regions and communities that need it most. 

As a like-minded organisation, the GFCR has formalized an Institutional Partnership with ORRAA to seek synergies through knowledge sharing, co-implementation and co-financing in common geographies and blue economy sectors. Through the partnership, key areas of collaboration include:  

• Undertaking of research and development strategies to better analyse, predict and manage ocean risk through mechanisms such as scalable reef insurance products; 
• Leveraging of public and private finance to build coastal resilience in SIDS and LDCs to support vulnerable communities through investment in natural capital; 
• Sharing lessons learned and best practices on coral reef science, conservation, restoration, reef-positive livelihood opportunities and innovative finance; 
• Joint exploration of co-implementation and co-financing opportunities, with efforts intelligently sequenced, to accelerate the proper conditions for private sector engagement; and 
• Advancement of the global narrative on ocean risk and on building coastal resilience as part of the global policy agenda, with policymakers and investors around the world. 

As coral reefs are under rapid decline, the GFCR recognizes the vast foundational work in marine conservation of international organisations and looks forward to complementing and collaborating with ocean actors, such as ORRAA, to accelerate impact, extend geographic reach, and achieve sustainable financing for coral reef conservation.