The blue economy

Protecting ocean health requires coordinated action on interconnected threats ranging from overfishing and climate change to pollution, habitat loss, and biodiversity decline. Effective philanthropy starts with understanding these systemic challenges and then supporting proven solutions through collaboration, research, advocacy, conservation, and innovative financing. Progress depends on long-term, collective efforts that address root causes, scale successful models, and align ocean protection with wider environmental and social goals.

Water scarcity and declining water quality are creating growing pressure for industries to use water more efficiently and reduce environmental impacts. Moleaer argues that nanobubble technology offers a scalable way to address these challenges by improving water treatment, reducing reliance on chemicals, and increasing resource efficiency across sectors such as agriculture and aquaculture. The approach reflects a broader shift toward technologies that link environmental sustainability with operational performance and resource resilience.

In this interview, David Obura argues that achieving biodiversity goals requires moving beyond project-based conservation funding and integrating nature-related costs directly into economic activity, so harm is addressed at its source. While conservation efforts have focused heavily on protecting land and water, he emphasizes that businesses and financial institutions must also deliver by embedding biodiversity into decision-making, improving transparency around nature-related impacts, and reducing the negative effects of production and consumption throughout value chains.

The failure of economic systems to fully account for the value provided by oceans and marine ecosystems is a growing challenge. David Obura of CORDIO East Africa and IPBES, and Patrick Nussbaumer of the UBS Optimus Foundation, explore how sustainable ocean stewardship requires more than additional funding, emphasizing collaboration, better financing models, and broader approaches to valuing nature. It highlights the need to move beyond extractive economic frameworks toward models that integrate ecological resilience, cultural values, and long-term sustainability into decision-making.

A key constraint on the transition to a sustainable ocean economy is the gap between available capital and investment-ready opportunities. Featuring UBS's Judson Berkey and Richard Mylles, alongside Chris Gorell Barnes of Blue Marine Foundation and Ocean 14 Capital, the discussion examines how philanthropy, blended finance, and innovative financing mechanisms can reduce risk, demonstrate viability, and help attract larger pools of capital. As investor interest and policy momentum build, the focus is shifting toward scalable models that can support ocean conservation, regeneration, and sustainable economic activity.

A key challenge in tackling plastic pollution is the lack of economic incentives and waste management systems needed to keep plastic out of the environment. Featuring Thomas Schori, founder and CEO of Tide Ocean Materials, the discussion explores how creating value from ocean-bound plastic can support both environmental goals and local livelihoods. By combining traceability, recycling infrastructure, and community participation, the model reframes waste as a resource while building more sustainable supply chains. The approach highlights the growing importance of circular economy solutions that align commercial incentives with environmental outcomes.