Natural Capital Solutions

Protecting our oceans through monetising sustainable blue economies

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Oceans Finance Company was founded to create a link between the impact benefits derived from the management of natural capital and nature-based solutions on the one hand and large-scale sources of blended finance capital on the other. 

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Healthy oceans are essential for the well-being of all life on Earth and oceans have long been recognised as one of humanity’s most important natural resources.

Over half of the world’s oxygen is produced by the ocean and it absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. As it covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, it is one of the biggest drivers for regulating our climate as well as weather patterns and holds 97% of our planet’s water. More than three billion people globally rely on coastal and marine biodiversity for their livelihoods and the ocean fulfils an important role in feeding the planet’s growing human population. The combined assets of the ocean are valued at over $24 trillion while the annual gross marine product of the ocean, at USD2.5 trillion, is equivalent to the gross domestic product of the world’s eighth largest economy. There is a well-documented connection between ocean health and issues related to economic development and governments across the globe are increasingly looking to the ocean to drive economic growth.

Their vastness have made oceans appear to be limitless sources of food, livelihoods, transportation and recreation. However, in recent times we have begun to reach the limits of the oceans. The irreplaceable environmental, social and economic value as well as future potential of this new frontier will be squandered if the ocean and its resources are not used and managed in a sustainable way.

Challenges such as over-exploitation, climate change, pollution, ocean acidification and a simple lack of awareness of sustainable ocean stewardship techniques continue to put ocean resources at risk

Against this background, the principals and anchor investors of the Oceans Finance Company (OFC) have applied their experience with regards to fund management, infrastructure investment, blended finance structures, asset management as well as climate focussed investment to protect and increase the natural capital of these invaluable natural resources.

The OFC business model that is designed to:

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Protect our oceans and other ecosystems

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Through sustainable, financially viable investment 

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In a manner that delivers demonstrable and verifiable environmental and socio-economic benefits

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As well as increasing the asset value of oceans and other ecosystems

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While also providing appropriate risk adjusted returns for its investors and funders

OFC is a scalable and financially sustainable initiative that focusses on protecting our ecosystems so as to enable the sustainable use of resources towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, hunger, health, energy, sustainable communities and global partnerships.

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Socially Equitable. Environmentally Sustainable.
Economically Viable.

PRESS RELEASE

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FEATURED

October 18, 2024

The Hague, 18 October 2024: Oceans Finance Company (OFC), a conservation investment and management firm, has won the IJ Global ESG Award 2024 in the “Bond” category for its pioneering role in Ecuador’s Galapagos Marine Bond, part of a groundbreaking debt-for-nature swap in May 2023.

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All rights reserved. Oceans Finance Company. 2024

¹Natural Capital can be defined as the world’s stocks of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water, and all living things. It is from this Natural Capital that humans derive a wide range of services, often called ecosystem services, which make human life possible. Poorly managed Natural Capital becomes not only an ecological liability, but a social and economic liability too

²Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges (e.g. climate changes, food and water security or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.