{"id":38836,"date":"2023-09-26T13:50:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T17:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=38836"},"modified":"2023-09-29T17:51:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T21:51:12","slug":"how-sustainable-ocean-funds-are-navigating-impact-measurement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/how-sustainable-ocean-funds-are-navigating-impact-measurement\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sustainable Ocean Funds Are Navigating Impact Measurement"},"content":{"rendered":"
>> Back to October 2023 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n

Interviews and surveys from leading fund managers shed light on current approaches, common challenges and thoughts on the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

\"Ted<\/a>Blue economy funds have experienced dramatic growth in the past half decade, with nearly thirty new entrants \u2013 ten or so of them in 2022 alone. This is good news, as it signals both growing investor interest in the sector and an increasing pipeline of investable opportunities. As this ocean investment ecosystem evolves, the question of how to measure impact in investments has become a frequent topic of discussion.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To explore this impact question further, Investable Oceans and CREO conducted interviews and surveyed over a dozen leading sustainable ocean funds from 10 countries. We supplemented these interactions with reviews of available online resources, including websites and impact reports. We selected funds that already had significant capital under management and are currently investing. The funds collectively captured a diversity of ocean verticals, though notably, 13 out of 14 address Pollution & Waste Management (Figure I).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a>
Figure I.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The discussions were candid and fascinating, and the surveys allowed for additional quantitative analysis. One clear takeaway: all of the funds we spoke with are actively developing strategies \u2013 often mapped to SDG 14 \u2013 in order to measure and understand impact in ocean investing. Still, there is a strong consensus that much work lays ahead. In this piece, we present our key learnings as well as insights directly from some of the fund managers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Trends<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fund managers agree that impact measurement for sustainable ocean funds is in the early stages of development. Interestingly, half of the survey respondents rate its current state of development at a 6 or 7 out of 10, while the other half rate it at a 3, 4 or 5 out of 10 (Figure II). While impact measurement \u2013 and the blue fund\/economy space itself \u2013 is relatively new, there is great energy, interest and momentum pushing this work forward.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a while for the impact measurement in the blue fund space to get started because of limited investors and track record of investments, limited ocean data and a broad array of investable areas. But in the past few years, with much more investor activity in this space and a focus on carbon reduction it seems to really be taking off. Now we just need more tools to measure biodiversity.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 Amy Novogratz<\/strong>, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Aqua-Spark<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Fig-2<\/a>
Figure II.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We learned there is a diversity in approaches to developing impact measurement strategies, but many combine and build upon existing frameworks and standards to create a proprietary impact measurement strategy. Despite high variability among the frameworks used, survey responses indicate a majority of the funds are using the Ocean Impact Navigator (OIN) and UNEP FI as core tools (Figure III). Several also supplement their strategies with tools including IRIS+, GRI and SDG Compass.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Fig-3<\/a>
Figure III.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The OIN serves as a foundation for numerous funds, given its flexible design and specific focus on blue economy challenges. While some managers believe improvements can be made,\u00a0such as adding biodiversity metrics,\u00a0they also acknowledge that this is the first time we are seeing a truly collaborative effort.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSWEN Blue Ocean is an Article 9 fund according to the European SFDR regulation, which means 100% of our investments should have impact indicators. We welcome the Ocean Impact Navigator, a set of science-based indicators developed by 1000 Ocean Startups. It provides a shared framework that the ocean innovation community can leverage to accelerate collective impact.\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u2013 Christian Lim, Co-Managing Director, SWEN Blue Ocean<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n