Welcome to our December Newsletter!
As we enter 2024, we wanted to note a few 2023 highlights from our perspective. First and foremost, the oceans gained a lot of support this year – from donors, investors, NGOs and
governments. While we all of course feel the imperative to do more faster, there are many examples of increasing interest in ocean stewardship and investment, including oceans
gaining a prominent seat at the table at Climate Week and COP28.
At Investable Oceans, we had an energizing and productive year. While we continued our focus on bringing market based capital to ocean companies, we also engaged in a number of
advisory assignments that ultimately led to our evolving our mission statement to “build sustainable capital markets for the oceans”.
We also participated in more than a dozen ocean events over the course of the year, including
hosting/co-hosting five gatherings during Climate Week NYC. These
engagements also included mentoring, judging contests and joining numerous working groups, among other activities.
And while we enjoy curating articles, research and tools for our website, we created more original content this year, including:
We also appreciate the opportunity to share these monthly newsletters with you, and are thankful for the positive feedback and encouragement we’ve received!
COP28 and the Ocean Pavillion:
It’s hard to sum up COP28 in a handful of sentences given its vast expanse – two weeks, 70,000 attendees, 193 countries. We selected five articles below that together provide a
kaleidoscopic view of the proceedings, with a tilt towards oceans. The closest to a consensus view: good news on loss and damage, and relieved to see “transitioning away” from
fossil fuels language, but still feels like incrementalism and many of the commitments made require substantial follow-through.
Investable Oceans’ Helena Janulis was at COP28 for the duration, helping manage the Ocean Pavilion for
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and its partners. Stay tuned for her update in the New Year!
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Your Quick Guide to the Outcomes of COP28 (
Forbes)
-
Did the Tides Turn for Oceans at COP28? Climate Summit Draws Mixed Reviews (
Mongabay)
-
COP28: Despite Mixed Feelings on Mitigation and Adaptation Outcomes, the Ocean Found its Rightful Place in the Global Stocktake Conclusions (
Ocean & Climate Platform
)
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Takeaways from COP28: Interview with Dr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna (
The Point, Podcast)
-
Coalition of Philanthropic Funders Unveil More Than $250 Million Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance to Supercharge Ocean-Based Climate Solutions (
Bloomberg Philanthropies
)
ORRAA Announces The Octopus Desk as Part of its Ocean Finance Initiatives:
We’re delighted to have been selected by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) to partner
on the next stage of development of The Octopus Desk, a blue marketplace platform with the mission to accelerate and scale blended finance with a focus on the Global South. Blended
finance will play an important role in ORRAA achieving its goal to “build the resilience of 250 million climate vulnerable coastal people by 2030, by deploying at least USD$500
million of investment into coastal and ocean resilience through the development of at least 50 novel finance and insurance products”.
We’ve already begun work on this important initiative, and welcome the input and insights of the broader Investable Oceans community. If you have ideas or recommendations on the
design of The Octopus Desk please feel free to reach out to Ted at ted@investableoceans.com.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year, and a spectacular 2024. As always, we thank you for your support and look forward to working with many of you in the coming weeks and
months. The coming year promises to be another exciting one for the oceans!
The Investable Oceans Team
