Blue Finance
Blue finance focuses on researching financial solutions that would direct more private funds to marine conservation. Currently, the biggest obstacle to protect the ocean is a limited amount of ocean conservation projects that can generate returns for investors. Innovative financial tools such as blue bonds or a blended financing approach that brings together grant money, donations, and private investment have considerable potential to increase the scale of marine conservation while making it profitable for investors. In recent years, IIGF has been putting increasingly more attention to this fast-growing area of finance.
Research outputs:
Chen Qianming: Finance is crucial to making fishing and aquaculture sustainable
In this article, she explains how financial institutions can rdrive a sustainable transition in the fishing and aquaculture industry while reducing their own financial risks. (article originally published by China Dialogue, written by Chen Qianming, IIGF research fellow)
IIGF expert Julia Qian Mao, attending”Blue Future with Sustainable Blue Finance Forum”
Finance is an important tool to promote sustainable development of the seafood industry. Against the backdrop of rapid development of green finance, and increased attention towards ocean-related industries, “blue finance” has become an emerging field. This report approaches the issue from the industrial finance perspective to explore how financial products and services provided to the seafood industry, i.e. “seafood finance”, can contribute to its sustainable development.
FINANCING SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD: A Baseline Study on Sustainable Seafood Finance in China
Finance is an important tool to promote sustainable development of the seafood industry. Against the backdrop of rapid development of green finance, and increased attention towards ocean-related industries, “blue finance” has become an emerging field. This report approaches the issue from the industrial finance perspective to explore how financial products and services provided to the seafood industry, i.e. “seafood finance”, can contribute to its sustainable development.
FINANCING SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD: A study of environment-related financial risks in China’s seafood sector
This report identifies and analyzes various sources of environmental risk within the seafood industry, ultimately inducing environment-related financial risks faced by financial institutions. Firstly, production activities that cause negativeenvironmental impacts lead to physical risks. Secondly, transition risks can arise from policy changes. Thirdly, transition risks also arise from shifts in markets. These negative environmental impacts of production and resulting environmental risks can turn into financial risks either through negatively impacting the industry operation entities or by directly affecting financial assets. In particular, banks are mainly exposed to credit risks and insurance institutions are mainly exposed to underwriting risks.
EXPERT SEMINAR FOR THE NEW BLUE FINANCE PROJECT: Sustainable Fisheries Finance
On 11th Jan, IIGF and WWOn 11th Jan, IIGF and WWF-China held an online expert seminar, serving as a kick-off meeting of the new Project launched in partnership with WWF: “Development of the Sustainable Fisheries Finance in China. The project aims to conduct a baseline study of the landscape of the Chinese fishery industry finance and develop a roadmap to guide the financial flow toward a more sustainable future and identify and analyze the financial risks that may arise from unsustainable fishery production.
Blue Finance Case Study – The Republic of Seychelles’ innovative use of Debt for Nature Swap promotes marine protection.
Seychelles is the first country in the world to use DNS tools for marine protection projects. In March 2015, after three years of stakeholder consultation, the TNC announced its support for this groundbreaking agreement between the Republic of Seychelles and the Paris Club. In this agreement, the Seychelles government committed to increasing the proportion of its national marine protected area from only 0.04% of the exclusive economic zone to 30% by 2020.