ADBI-OPRI-SIIF International Conference on Blue Impact Finance: Action for System Change

Time of Event

Day 1: 9:45–17:00 (Tokyo time)
Day 2: 9:45–17:30 (Tokyo time)
Day 3: 9:00–17:30 (Tokyo time)

Summary

The blue economy plays a vital role in supporting the livelihoods of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific. In 2019, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched the Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies (Healthy Oceans Action Plan) at the ADB Annual Meeting in Fiji. ADB recently announced their new Environment Action Plan, and Phase II of ADB’s Healthy Oceans Action Plan will be launched in 2025, which reiterates their commitment to working on addressing ocean and coastal resilience issues such as increasing food security, protecting cultural heritage, and driving economic transformation. Investments in ocean health and sustainable blue economies are critical for achieving these commitments.

Cohosted by ADBI, the Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI), and the Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF), this conference aligns with ADB’s efforts to build healthy ocean economies through blue investments and will provide a platform for experts from both the private sector, government, foundations, and other organizations to discuss policies for implementing blue finance to support the blue economy. Day 3 will include a field trip to learn from successful examples in Japan and impact assessment of Japanese ocean startups.

Objectives

• Understand the challenges and opportunities of the blue economy through the lens of financing (i.e., blue impact finance)
• Develop the capacities of policy makers and key stakeholders and equip them with critical knowledge on how to accelerate private investments in innovative ocean-linked industries, such as aquaculture, smart fishery, tourism, and marine debris management
• Share policy solutions and tools to facilitate evidence-based assessments to make smart investments
• Discuss methodologies of ocean impact assessment

Target Participants

• Policy makers from Asian Development Bank member economies
• Experts from ADBI, ADB, and other think tanks
• Private sector actors and foundations involved in supporting the blue economy and ocean startups

Output

• Greater dialogue and partnership between policy makers, experts, and private investors on key issues for accelerating sustainable ocean finance
• Strengthened capacities of policy makers for accelerating private investments in innovative ocean-linked industries
• Enhanced understanding of ocean impact assessment methodology as a tool to make smart investments

How to Register

By invitation or prior arrangement with ADBI

Partners

• Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI)
• Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF)