Blue bonds could cover 10% of the funding needed for SDG14 – which is partly focused on protecting life in the oceans – by 2030, according to a report by SystemIQ. Blue finance has received far less attention than green finance, the broader category of finance of which it is often considered a subset, but has grown meaningfully since the first blue bond was issued in 2018 by the government of Seychelles.

Among the regions in focus in the report, MENAT is notable because it has not seen any issued blue bonds to date, although Egypt is expected to follow a previous green bond issuance with a debut blue bond. There are many promising types of blue finance that could be used across the MENAT region. This is a key part of the global shipping market, including within it the Suez Canal in Egypt and the Jebel Ali port in the UAE (one of the world’s dozen largest ports by volume).

There are challenges in linking together the co-benefits from investing sustainably in one sector of the blue economy with other investments in other ocean-related sectors, but a lot of opportunities as well. Seeing a focus placed on opportunities for blue bonds and other forms of blue finance across the MENAT region and Asia – which includes many OIC countries – should be a call to action to consider blue finance among other developing approaches to responsible finance by financial institutions within these markets.

The RFI Foundation is involved in coordinating an “Oceans Flagship Laboratory” announced during COP 28 which is a part of the BC100+ initiative focusing on blockchain and the SDGs. The Oceans Flagship Laboratory is working to explore the role of technology to increase flows of blue finance, particularly within the MENAT region. Contact us for more information.