Launch of the first impact loan facility for coral reef conservation

Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas (BA) and BNP Paribas, through its Impact Investment team, launch the Blue Finance facility, a targeted USD 35m impact loan facility designed to provide up-front and early-stage impact financing to reef-positive businesses (RPBs) that strengthen the Blue Economy within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

With initial funding from BNP Paribas of up to USD 2.4m, the facility will be first active in Indonesia, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Cabo Verde to support the regeneration of 1.8 million hectares of coral reef ecosystems in 115 MPAs, and to directly improve the livelihoods and food security of some 110,000 local community members.

The structure relies on a blended finance approach, in which philanthropic capital provided by long-term partners such as the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), co-led by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), supports conservation efforts in the MPAs and helps design the overall framework to attract private, impact-focused investors. The Blue Finance facility is being implemented with BNP Paribas as the first investor, but it was structured to welcome additional co-investors, with the aim of increasing the total to USD 35m and support the development of strong pipeline of already identified MPAs.