Navigating the financial landscape for a sustainable ocean economy

Abstract: The ocean is increasingly seen as a new economic frontier. While investments are rapidly growing, these are mainly directed to unsustainable practices and a huge funding gap remains to ensure that ocean industries are in line with the aspirations of a truly “blue” economy. Acknowledging the role of financial actors as both gatekeepers and enablers of a sustainable ocean economy, this thesis explores the financial landscape of the 100 largest ocean companies – the ‘Ocean 100’ – which collectively account for 60% of total ocean economy revenues. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining network analyses, descriptive statistics, and more qualitative examples, to identify financiers of the Ocean 100 and discuss their potential for incentivizing ocean stewardship. It explores two potential leverage points: the use of sustainable loans and bonds and the influence of shareholders. New sustainable debt instruments that link interest rate to sustainability targets are increasingly used by the Ocean 100 and have potential in becoming a new norm, however, the connection to the ocean remains weak. There is a need for transparency and regulation in the sustainable finance market to ensure quality and to scale up sustainable finance instruments. The results also highlight the financial impact of large passive asset managers whose influence span over several ocean industries, some of which are characterized by high market concentration. As interest in the ocean economy is growing, regulations and public pressure to change investment norms represent a much needed incremental, if not radical, change towards improved sustainability.