Our blue planet is in the red
Yet, this greatest shared resource is under threat. Pollution, overfishing, rising temperatures, and biodiversity loss are eroding its ability to sustain economies and communities. Developing countries that depend on the ocean for food and livelihoods now face mounting risks.
And while the threats grow, financing to protect the ocean remains dangerously inadequate.
This must change.
We need to scale up and rethink how we finance ocean health. Blue finance—investments that support the sustainable use and protection of marine ecosystems—is one of the most powerful tools we have. With the right policies and partnerships in place, blue finance can create jobs, protect vulnerable communities, and promote inclusive growth.
The private sector has a crucial role to play. Nature-based solutions, such as restoring mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows, offer high-impact, low-cost investment opportunities with measurable benefits for carbon storage and disaster risk reduction. Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture are lifelines for nutrition and jobs. In 2021, fish and seaweed provided at least 20 percent of the protein intake for 3.2 billion people. By 2050, that demand is expected to double.
Growing this sector is both a necessity and an opportunity.
