SIDS Lead Bold Ocean Finance Conversation at the SDG Media Zone: UNOC3

Above: (From left to right): Dr. Gene Leon, Executive Director, Development Bank of Resilient Prosperity (DBRP); Ashaki Goodwin, Director of Government Affairs, PVBLIC Foundation; Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Division, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and Ratu Filmone, Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Coordinator and Climate Finance Specialist.

Nice, France - On June 11, as part of the Third UN Oceans Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, the SDG Media Zone gathered a group of finance experts to share strategies and experiences for closing the ocean funding gap during the panel discussion, “Resilient Prosperity for People and Planet: A Systems Approach to Ocean Finance.” Moderated by Ashaki Goodwin, Director of Government Affairs at PVBLIC Foundation, the conversation took place to highlight the need.

Panelists underscored that the ocean is one of our planet’s most valuable assets—rich in potential yet persistently underfunded. Business as usual is no longer an option if we are to unlock the full value of this natural capital. Public development banks, regional blocs, and emerging multilateral institutions now stand at a critical juncture, with a powerful opportunity to lead a paradigm shift in policies and partnerships toward sustainable ocean finance.

Identifying the instruments that no longer work

Dr. Gene Leon, Executive Director, Development Bank of Resilient Prosperity (DBRP), called for a comprehensive systems-wide approach to this issue. In the finance space, the focus is often sliced: from financing for poverty reduction to financing climate action or the GDP. “We’ve given them all kinds of names: green finance, blue finance, climate finance. But the truth of the matter is that all of these are linked,” explains Dr. Leon. “Rather than thinking of them as lanes, we should be thinking of this as a giant finance superhighway. As soon as you see that, then you immediately solve the problem you have.” He shared how the DBRP advocates for a system-wide solution for a system-wide problem. 

Above: (From left to right): Moderator Ashaki Goodwin, Director of Government Affairs, PVBLIC Foundation, and panelists Dr. Gene Leon, Executive Director, Development Bank of Resilient Prosperity (DBRP); Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Division, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and Ratu Filmone, Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Coordinator and Climate Finance Specialist.

Designing, mobilizing, and deploying effective financing instruments in an intersectional development landscape is more important than ever. “You don’t just design solutions or investments in the right tourism sector. You have to think of the impact on the agriculture sector; on the environment sector,” said Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Division, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

SIDS leading community-level action for global impact

The conversation centered on the layered situation faced by many Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which largely rely on oceans for their livelihoods. “Whatever happens on the land quickly happens in the ocean space. That means we have interconnected sectors and issues,” explained Mr. Emmanuel. The panelists share that promising products and technology are supporting solutions for communities, and a more inclusive strategy, with SIDS guiding the ship that better understands their own, unique needs. “Innovation is not just about new instruments; it’s about restructuring the system itself—how we price value, allocate risk, and measure returns.” explained Dr. Leon.

Above: Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Division, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

“As Small Island Developing States, we rely on our ocean and how it links to various other factors, including the health and lifestyle of our communities and how we can develop our national goals and as a region as well,” said Ratu Filimone, Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Coordinator and Climate Finance Specialist.

Above: Ratu Filmone, Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Coordinator and Climate Finance Specialist.

What needs to be done?

Bringing solutions and sustainable prosperity for SIDS by SIDS can bring a transformation to both ocean life and coastal communities around the world. “Let us design something that fits our purpose and let us support it collectively, and that would then create the imperative for others to come and work with us,” said Mr. Emmanuel. The path forward must consider the challenges SIDS often face, including sea level rise, reduction of fish stocks, debt pressures, severe weather risks, and loss of biodiversity. A new wave of collective action is required across regions, driven by the power of improved data collection, monitoring, and decision-making. 

“We need policies that remap the existing structures we have in terms of how we measure risk and return so that finance can flow in an appropriate way,” shared Dr. Leon. The panel’s message was clear: scaling funding and multiplying skills, technology, access, and shared experiences can bring catalytic change for ocean communities worldwide. “We are from different regions, but we do the same work. We are singing the same song. We are looking for solutions for our member countries, and it is time that this becomes unified. Not just the Pacific doing its own thing and the Caribbean doing the same thing, but it’s time to come together as large ocean states.”

Watch the full conversation here. 

Above: (From left to right): Stephen Keppel, President, PVBLIC Foundation, Dr. Gene Leon, Executive Director, Development Bank of Resilient Prosperity (DBRP); Ashaki Goodwin, Director of Government Affairs, PVBLIC Foundation; Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Division, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States; H.E. Colin Murdoch (OECS, Geneva Mission); Ratu Filmone, Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Coordinator and Climate Finance Specialist; and Sergio Fernández de Córdova, Executive Chairman, PVBLIC Foundation.