Monaco Blue Initiative

A day of high-level dialogue at the 17th Monaco Blue Initiative 🌊 From the post-2025 Ocean agenda to the governance and financing of the blue transition, and the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, today’s discussions highlighted a shared priority: moving from international commitments to concrete action for the Ocean. Across the day, one message stood out clearly: stronger cooperation, clearer governance, and more effective financial tools will be essential to deliver real change in the water. Co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco and Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, SBM Offshore and VELAMAR. #MonacoBlueInitiative #MBI2026 #OceanGovernance #SustainableOcean

A major new feature of this 17th edition 🌊 For the first time, thematic BBNJ workshops were organized to create a more operational and collaborative space dedicated to the implementation of the High Seas Treaty. Key takeaways 🌐 The role of technology, data and AI • Ocean data already exists but stronger infrastructure and methodologies are needed to process it • AI can only provide answers to the questions we ask • Clear standards and monitoring frameworks are essential for BBNJ implementation •  ⁠Progress in developing standards to define clearly how to monitor and assess impact 🏭 Impacts and adaptation for the private sector • BBNJ will increasingly shape shipping, fisheries, offshore energy, deep-sea mining and subsea cables • Private sector actors will face growing regulation on the high seas, beyond coastal waters. • Companies will play a major role in traceability, ocean data collection and environmental assessments • Financial institutions are developing blue impact and nature-risk framworks • Early movers supporting MPAs and BBNJ goals could gain reputational and regulatory advantages • Governance harmonization and enforcement remain major challenges 💰 Financing BBNJ • Inclusive investment mechanisms are needed, especially for developing countries and SIDS • Regional clusters are emerging but equity must remain central • Financial tools need shared scientific standards and common language • Science and data should guide investment decisions, not politics 🌍 BBNJ in the Mediterranean • The treaty offers an opportunity to strengthen protection of sensitive ecosystems • Regional implementation will need to account for differing capacities and priorities across Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and stakeholder groups. • Regional observatories like Plan Bleu can support monitoring and implementation • Governance tools and impact assessments must adapt to Mediterranean realities 🔬 Priority areas and science • Ocean data gaps remain a key challenge but lack of perfect data should not stop action • Implementation fatigue is a major challenge: progress will depend on political will • A large-scale “seascape approach” is needed to identify pressures and priority areas • ⁠Addressing underlying drivers of ocean degradation, such as harmful fisheries subsidies, is essential alongside conservation measures. • Existing regional expertise and scientific frameworks provide a strong foundation 🌐 Interactions with other international bodies • BBNJ is designed to strengthen existing international bodies, not replace them • It acts as the biodiversity layer alongside organizations like IMO and ISA • Greater coordination, accountability and financing are needed across institutions • Regional and global objectives must align to create coherent ocean governance

Panel 3 of the Monaco Blue Initiative explored the implications of the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement and the next steps required to strengthen high seas protection. Opening the session, Wallace Cosgrow, Principal Minister and Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and the Blue Economy of the Republic of Seychelles, alongside Hon. Arvin Boolell, Minister of Agro-Industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries of the Republic of Mauritius, highlighted the essential role of island states in Ocean governance and protection. The BBNJ Agreement Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, also known as the High Seas Treaty reached the required threshold for ratification on 19 September 2025 before officially entering into force on 17 January 2026. This historic treaty establishes, for the first time, a global framework to protect biodiversity in the high seas, covering nearly two-thirds of the Ocean and almost 50% of the planet. It also represents a key lever for achieving the global 30x30 target through the creation of Marine Protected Areas in regions long affected by weak governance. The panel brought together Grethel Aguilar, Director General of IUCN, Harriet Harden-Davies, Director of the Nippon Foundation-University of Edinburgh Ocean Voices Programme at the University of Edinburgh, Kristian Teleki, CEO of Fauna & Flora, and Torsten Thiele, Founder and Executive Director of Global Ocean Trust. Grethel Aguilar reminded participants that “ratification is not the end; we are in the middle,” noting that only 89 out of 195 countries have joined the Agreement so far. Harriet Harden-Davies highlighted three essential pillars to unlock the full potential of BBNJ: “knowledge,” both scientific and traditional, “innovation” in the way we understand the Ocean, and “courage” from governments, communities and academia. She also stressed that “the high seas connect us all” and that the treaty represents a major shift from extractive approaches to conservation, notably through technology transfer and capacity building. Kristian Teleki emphasized the human consequences of current governance imbalances, warning that “300,000 small-scale fishers have already lost their jobs in West Africa because they are excluded from fishing agreements.” Reflecting on the origins of the international Ocean agenda, he also recalled that “Palau and Monaco were among the first, back in 2013, to champion the idea of a sustainable development goal for the Ocean before rallying other countries behind it.” Finally, Torsten Thiele underlined the importance of financial mechanisms linked to the treaty, explaining that the BBNJ special fund should be viewed “as the de-risking component of a much larger and more complex financing structure.” Throughout the discussion, speakers stressed the urgency of rapidly transforming the Agreement into concrete operational mechanisms capable of supporting large-scale protection of the high seas.

Panel 2 of the Monaco Blue Initiative "Governing and financing the ocean in a fragmented world" explored the growing tensions between geopolitical fragmentation, Ocean governance and the financing of the blue transition. Opening the session, Aimé-Martial Massamba, Minister of the Sea, Fisheries and Blue Economy of the Gabonese Republic, stressed that Ocean challenges are deeply interconnected and require responses that are both cooperative and pragmatic. He called for stronger international governance and broader access to blue finance through simplified mechanisms better adapted to African economic realities. “We should protect the ocean, not because it is fragile but because it is strategic, not because it is beautiful but because it is vital,” he stated. Discussions quickly highlighted a shared reality: in an increasingly fragmented world, Ocean-related decisions are now directly shaped by regulatory uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and climate-related risks. For Humphrey Kariuki, Founder of Janus Continental Group (JCG), no strategy can be sustainable without fully involving the communities concerned: “As long as the community is not part of the conversation, your work will never be sustainable.” This need to anchor projects in viable and concrete economic models was also emphasized by Valerie Hickey, Group Director for Environment at the The World Bank Group, who reminded participants that “no amount of blended finance is enough if the underlying enterprise is not commercially viable.” Beyond financing the blue economy itself, Mahima Sukhdev, Chief Growth Officer at GIST Impact, called for a broader shift in perspective: integrating Ocean-related impacts and risks into the global financial system as a whole. The discussion also addressed the democratic governance of emerging financial mechanisms. Sylvie Goulard, Co-Chair of the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits, stressed that “finance is useful as long as it’s under the control of democracy.” Throughout the session, speakers argued that a sustainable blue economy will not emerge without stronger international cooperation, greater trust between public and private actors, and financial tools capable of addressing climate, economic and biodiversity challenges simultaneously. MBI is co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

Panel 1 of the Monaco Blue Initiative "The post-2025 ocean agenda: consolidating milestones and confronting blockages" explored how the post-2025 Ocean agenda is reshaping governance, conservation and financing priorities across institutions, sectors and regions. Opening the discussion, Jennifer Nordquist, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), highlighted the importance of international cooperation and implementation at a decisive moment for global Ocean governance. The panel brought together Ashleigh McGovern, Senior Vice President at Center for Oceans, Vincent Pieribone, Co-CEO and Chief Science Officer at OceanX, and Karen Sack, Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, around a shared objective: turning ambition into concrete impact. “Ocean conservation is a millennial,” said Ashleigh McGovern, emphasizing both the scale of the challenge and the acceleration required to meet global targets by 2030. Speakers stressed that these objectives will require not only additional marine protected areas, but also stronger financing mechanisms and greater coordination across sectors. Karen Sack described the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement as “the biggest multilateral environmental treaty of the past decades,” while highlighting the importance of innovative financing models. She pointed to Germany’s conservation trust fund linked to offshore wind investments as an example of how sustainable finance can directly support 30x30 objectives, adding that “nature is the best entrepreneur.” The discussion also focused on how to make Ocean issues more visible and impactful. Vincent Pieribone argued that “we should not talk about science but reason / rationality,” stressing the need to tell Ocean stories differently in an increasingly saturated information environment. Referring to the now-iconic image of the turtle and the plastic straw, he highlighted the role of storytelling and immersive technologies, such as the OceanX submersible, in revealing little-known ecosystems like seamounts to the wider public. Throughout the session, speakers returned to the same priority: achieving “not words on a paper but change in the water.” Co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of CFM INDOSUEZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT- Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

Sixteen years ago, when the Monaco Blue Initiative was launched, the Ocean still occupied a marginal place in major international discussions. Today, it has clearly emerged as a central issue, alongside climate and biodiversity. But after a decade marked by growing awareness and commitments, the time has now come for concrete implementation. This is precisely the ambition of the #MonacoBlueInitiative: bringing together governments, scientists, economic actors, NGOs and the private sector in an open space for dialogue, capable of fostering consensus and operational solutions around the major challenges facing the Ocean. This new edition, co-organized by the Institut océanographique de Monaco, the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco and the Gouvernement Monaco, also opens a broader momentum that will continue with the Blue Economy & Finance Forum (BEFF), with the objective of connecting political ambition, scientific expertise and financial mobilization in support of the Ocean. In his opening speech, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco recalled the fundamental role of cooperation between public authorities and the economic and financial world: “Their cooperation is our focus today. Markets, whatever their strengths, need rules. They work to short horizons. They struggle with questions that unfold over decades, sometimes over centuries. And environmental costs remain largely unpriced in our economic models, when they are not missing from them altogether. Consider a single figure: harmful fisheries subsidies still cost the world some twenty-two billion dollars a year. Faced with these contradictions, it falls to States and international organisations to do three things: set a clear framework, steer incentives, and reduce uncertainty for those who invest.” A sincere thank you to the members of the advisory committee, Karen Sack, Pascal Lamy and Vincent Pieribone, as well as to all our partners mobilized : to help advance these essential discussions toward concrete solutions for a #SustainableOcean co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

Today marks the launch of the Monaco Blue Initiative, a unique platform bringing together leading voices from science, policy, finance and ocean governance to address the major challenges facing the Ocean. You can follow the live coverage throughout the day on Instagram via @MBImonaco. MBI is co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

The strength of the Monaco Blue Initiative (MBI) lies in the diversity of the profiles it brings together: high-level decision-makers and experts from the scientific, private, financial, political, institutional and non-profit sectors. Creating dialogue between these worlds is essential to identify existing barriers and move forward collectively. MBI is co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

Panel 2 of the Monaco Blue Initiative will explore how overlapping and sometimes inconsistent governance frameworks are creating both constraints and opportunities for public authorities and private investors across ocean sectors. The discussion will examine how regulatory uncertainty and geopolitical fragmentation are increasingly influencing investment decisions, capital allocation, risk management and long-term strategic planning. Particular attention will be given to regions and ecosystems facing heightened climate and biodiversity pressures, where governance gaps require more coordinated and targeted responses, with insights from: • Valerie Hickey, Group Director for Environment, The World Bank Group • Mahima Sukhdev, Chief Growth Officer, GIST Impact • Sylvie Goulard, Co-Chair, International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits • Humphrey Kariuki, Founder, Janus Continental Group (JCG) 📅 May 27, 2026 🕒 11:15 AM – 12:00 PM 📍 Oceanographic Museum of Monaco Co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.

The Monaco Blue Initiative (MBI) is not a commitment-driven conference. It is a strategic platform for dialogue, bringing together political leaders, scientists, economic stakeholders and financial actors. Its intentionally limited format, with around 100 participants, enables direct and candid discussions without posturing. Its objective is to foster dialogue between sectors that rarely engage with one another, or not enough, in order to align on key priorities for a sustainable Ocean. MBI is co-organized by Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Gouvernement Monaco & Institut océanographique de Monaco. With the support of Indosuez Wealth Management Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank SBM Offshore VELAMAR.