The ocean supports food, jobs and the climate systems that keep global weather in balance – but only 8 percent of it is protected, and money to safeguard the rest is critically lacking. This weekend, finance leaders and marine experts are meeting in Monaco for what many say is a make-or-break moment to close the funding gap and secure the ocean’s future.
The Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) is one of three high-level events leading into next week’s critical UN Ocean Conference in Nice (UNOC).
It brings together governments, investors and oceanographers to unlock new financing solutions to protect and restore ocean health and coastal livelihoods. Experts warn that without urgent action to close a multi-billion-dollar funding gap, these efforts could collapse.
Of the $175 billion needed each year, the forum’s organisers say, only $25 billion has been mobilised so far. That shortfall has made SDG 14 – the UN goal to conserve oceans – the least funded of all its Sustainable Development Goals.
Leaders from the Pacific, a region on the frontlines of ocean diplomacy, are among those pushing to get the cash flowing.
“We’ll be calling for more investment and more partnerships to fund the commitments we’ve all made to SDG 14,” Pacific Ocean Commissioner Filimon Manoni told a press briefing by National Geographic's Pristine Seas, a global marine conservation programme.
"We also want to share our success stories, especially the ones led by communities.”
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From pledges to finance
Monaco has assembled a solid coalition to host BEFF. In charge are the government, the Prince Albert II Foundation and the Oceanographic Institute, with backing from France and Costa Rica. Global partners include the UN Global Compact and the World Economic Forum.
"Together, we will mobilise the necessary investments – both public and private – for a sustainable blue economy," Prince Albert promised ahead of the event, which has drawn some of the most influential voices in finance and ocean policy.
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will deliver a keynote address on financing ocean health, while International Maritime Organisation secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez will speak on decarbonising shipping and building more resilient ports.
The closing remarks will come from French President Emmanuel Macron and Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles – co-hosts of next week’s UN Ocean Conference in Nice.
Panels will examine topics from blue bonds and biodiversity credits to venture capital and public-private partnerships. The forum also features a Blue Innovation Hall showing the latest advances in ocean technology, including tools for renewable energy, waste reduction and marine monitoring.
The forum’s timing is crucial, said Kristin Rechberger, founder of the non-profit Revive Our Ocean and CEO of the green consulting firm Dynamic Planet.
“We’re at an inflection point right now at the midpoint of this decade, where we can make conservation businesses the norm instead of the exception,” she said.
"There's a really exciting opportunity through the Blue Economy Finance Forum and UNOC to close the gap between the funding that's actually available – it's just misaligned – and the needs that are really hungry for a regenerative blue economy."
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Pacific leading the way
The Pacific region is widely credited as a leader in ocean protection. Manoni said the region had been "walking the talk" for years, pointing to large marine sanctuaries now in place in countries including Palau, the Cook Islands and the Marshall Islands.
"The Pacific has not been sitting idle," he said. "The Pacific has been at work." The western and central Pacific, Manoni added, now supply more than half of the world’s tuna, helping to secure global food security.
But experts say efforts like these need to be scaled up dramatically. Countries have pledged to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 – a target known as 30x30 – yet vast areas remain unmanaged or open to damaging activities.
Enric Sala, founder of Pristine Seas, said more protection must go hand in hand with better enforcement and long-term funding.
"We have only 8 percent of the ocean in protected areas, and only 3 percent in zones where damaging activities are banned," Sala told journalists. "We need to quadruple protection in the next five years."
He said destructive practices like bottom trawling must also be banned – pointing to the “crazy situation” in Europe, where such activities continue even in many so-called protected areas.
Sala cited research estimating the societal cost of bottom trawlingin Europe at up to €11 billion a year, largely owing to carbon emissions from churning up sea floor sediment.
"The abundance of vulnerable species like sharks and rays is lower inside these areas than outside," Sala added.
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Investing in change
As harmful fishing practices continue to undermine conservation efforts, BEFF is also zeroing in on how improved financing can drive change.
Key financial tools under discussion include debt-for-nature swaps and blended finance models that combine public and private investment. Twenty side events called “Solution Hubs” will explore everything from marine algae to sustainable aquaculture.
"We need to make sure finance directly reaches the coastal communities working to safeguard our ocean," said Rita El Zaghloul, director of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People – a group of more than 100 countries pushing to protect biodiversity and expand access to conservation funding.
Some of that is starting to happen. The coalition has launched a fast-track fund to provide small grants for marine-protected area planning.
"A community marine reserve doesn’t need a giant World Bank loan," added Rechberger. "It needs the right money, at the right time, and the right amount."
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Awareness through storytelling
The economic stakes are huge. The ocean feeds 3.2 billion people and contributes $2.6 trillion to the global economy. Yet destructive practices continue to erode these benefits.
The forum is also taking place against growing pressure to resolve the disconnect between bold conservation pledges and the persistence of harmful practices at sea.
To help raise awareness, a special screening of the documentary Ocean, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, will close Saturday’s programme. The film features the first underwater footage of bottom trawling in action.
"Now, for the first time, people can see what bottom trawling does underwater," said Sala. "People can see what this practice does and can make up their minds."
As the countdown continues to the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, from 9 to 13 June, organisers hope BEFF will help shape the tone of the week. With only five years left to quadruple ocean protection, the window for action is rapidly closing.
"This is not only about conservation," Rechberger said. "It’s about building a thriving, regenerative ocean economy that works for people and the planet."
