Above image: Kunduchi, Tanzania – photo courtesy of ORRAA
A Turning Tide in Climate Finance
A regenerative and sustainable blue economy represents a trillion-dollar frontier investment opportunity with the potential to generate significant returns for investors while advancing social and environmental goals.
The importance of coastal and ocean ecosystems to the global economy cannot be overstated. Coastal regions are home to almost half of all economic activity and 40 percent of the world’s population. Coastal floods and storm surge already cost the world between USD$10-40 billion dollars a year, projected to reach USD$1 trillion annually by 2050, yet less than one percent of climate finance is invested into coastal nature-based solutions.
The Ocean is living capital and a highly undervalued asset class. When we invest in its health, we invest in our own. The cost of inaction far outweighs the price of progress. To turn away from the Ocean is to abandon more than USD$8 trillion in potential value. To embrace its promise is to unlock USD$15.5 trillion in benefits, create 12 million jobs by 2030, and bring greater resilience to nations most in need. Yet the science clearly shows that the window for action is closing fast. That is why we must be patient with capital and impatient with action, delivering investment that reduces risk and drives environmental, economic, social and cultural security. But no one sector can go it alone. It is going to take radical collaboration, from beachfront to boardroom.
Who We Are and Why We’re Here
This is where the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) comes in. We are a global coalition of more than 120 partners, including banks, insurers, governments, multilaterals, NGOs, locally led SMEs, and academic institutions. All are committed to a common mission: by 2030, to activate at least USD$500 million in investment into finance and insurance products that build the resilience of 250 million climate-vulnerable coastal people in the Global South, and with a focus on Nature-based Solutions.
Our model works at three interconnected levels. Starting from the ground up, we are building a pipeline of finance and insurance products. We then target the missing middle, bridging policy and capital by strengthening and enabling environments, supporting standards and guidance, and building platforms that bring together investors, communities, project developers, and governments. Finally, we work from the top down to build a capital market for the Ocean — one that blends concessional, philanthropic, and return-seeking capital in ways that align financial incentives with climate and community outcomes. And there are ‘shovel-ready’ investment opportunities right now searching for investors.
Real Projects, Real Impact
Since its inception, ORRAA has been supporting an incubation and innovation marketplace through small and medium-sized grants to locally led, climate, nature and gender-positive projects. This ranges from microinsurance and savings accounts for small-scale fishers, to coral reef parametric insurance, and blue carbon credit systems rooted in local stewardship. In just the past four years, we’ve supported 50 projects in 30 countries through grants totaling USD$20 million, supporting more than 340,000 people and leveraging an additional USD$65 million of investment.
