Unlocking Ocean Finance: Caribbean Leaders Convene at UNOC3 to Scale Up Sustainable Solutions
Nice, France — As the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) concludes, Caribbean leaders and global partners are reaffirming one of the region’s most urgent calls: unlocking long-term, sustainable financing for ocean action. During the conference, the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF), Government of Grenada, OECS, and over 15 international partners convened a high-level side event titled “Actioning Blue: Unlocking Sustainable Ocean Financing and Enhanced Ocean Coordination for Caribbean SIDS.”
2025-07-01 18:59:59 - VI News Staff
The event spotlighted solutions to scale up ocean financing and showcased coordinated regional approaches like the Actioning Blue Political Declaration and the Caribbean Ocean Coordination Mechanism (OCM)—two initiatives driving implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and SDG 14.
“International ambition and science-based evidence help drive the decisions we make in the Caribbean, but Caribbean solutions must be created by Caribbean people. Too often, the special needs of SIDS are overlooked. Taking collective action allows us to amplify our voices as a Caribbean region and ensure that we set our priorities based on our national circumstances and limitations,” said H.E. Safiya Sawney, Special Envoy and Ambassador for Climate for the Government of Grenada.
Dr. Jens Mackensen, Head of Division for Biodiversity and Sustainable Resource Management, Latin America and the Caribbean at the German Development Bank (KfW), added:
“The most important currency that we have is not dollars or euros, it is impact. I think that impact is something that makes all the difference for livelihoods on the ground and it is the one currency that we must use to translate the need for financing and the design of financing instruments in a way that drives impact on the ground. We also recognize that the needs of the Caribbean SIDS are changing. That means we also need to change the financial instruments we are offering as funders. I’m happy to see that there are a lot of discussions here at UNOC3 on the types of financing solutions that best fit the needs of the region.”