“By funding marine protected areas, we combine marine conservation with the economic development of local communities.”
NICOLAS PASCAL
Executive Director of Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas
“After three years of work, the 165 scientists from around the world who make up the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the biodiversity equivalent of the IPCC’s climate experts(1), have drawn up an alarming report on coral reefs. Of all the ecosystems threatened with extinction in the next 10 to 50 years, coral reefs are the main concern. The three main causes of their decline are the warming of the oceans due to climate change, pollution and overfishing(2). Marine protected areas (MPAs(3)) provide a comprehensive response to the simultaneous effects of these causes: protecting biodiversity, increasing fish stocks, improving the standard of living of local communities and developing income from tourism.
Eighteen thousand MPAs are listed worldwide, covering 30 million square kilometres of coastal water, or 8.2% of the surface of the oceans and seas, and nearly 70% of which are inoperative or severely underfunded. It is a situation deemed inadequate with regard to the so-called ‘30x30‘ agreement, promoted by the United Nations at the COP15 on biodiversity in 2022, which aims to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030. Moreover, most of these areas are struggling to develop properly due to insufficient funding.
It is precisely to give MPAs the resources they need to maximise their benefits that we created our Alliance ten years ago. We work with governments through management delegations to sustainably restore and protect coral reef ecosystems, while improving the livelihoods of local communities. To ensure the sustainability of our activities, we seek to diversify our sources of revenue by supplementing our public and philanthropic funds. This is why, in October 2024, we created an impact debt facility with the BNP Paribas teams. This ‘Blue Finance Facility‘, managed by Blue Alliance, provides long-term financing to local community businesses that help to preserve coral reefs, improve the incomes of vulnerable communities and contribute to financing the operation of MPAs, by paying them dividends or through a revenue-sharing mechanism. The financing covers four kinds of activities: responsible ecotourism, community-based aquaculture, sustainable fishing and soon, the restoration of mangroves to capture CO2.
Structured by BNP Paribas’ Impact Investment team(4), this facility provides patient capital, enabling companies to reach a sufficient level of development before any repayment, and its interest rate is indexed to the achievement of objectives with positive impact on marine ecosystems and communities.
We opened our Blue Finance Facility to third-party investors, for a target size of US$10 million. With an initial investment of US$2.4 million from BNP Paribas, we have launched community businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines, Tanzania and shortly in the Republic of Cabo Verde. In this way, we are supporting the regeneration of coral reefs in 1.7 million hectares of MPAs while improving the livelihoods and food security of 110,000 members of local communities, through the creation of direct and indirect jobs. This is the BNP Paribas Impact Investment team’s first financing in the blue economy. This pioneering role will help attract new investors to this critical but underfunded area of coral reef restoration and poverty alleviation in the Global South. This confidence encourages us to ambitiously scale up our approach in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve large-scale impact in these regions.”
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED ON 10 MARCH 2025.
BLUE ALLIANCE
Created in 2015 by Nicolas Pascal and Angelique Brathwaite, Blue Alliance Marine Protected Areas regenerates the biodiversity of threatened coral reefs while supporting coastal communities. It manages 1.7 million hectares of marine protected areas in Indonesia, the Philippines and Zanzibar. It regenerates coral reefs and mangroves, protects more than 70 endangered species and improves the livelihoods of 38,000 people living around these areas. In addition to ecological conservation, its model targets the economic empowerment of local communities and conservation, through the generation of long-term revenues as part of the blue Economy.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an intergovernmental body responsible for assessing the magnitude, causes and consequences of climate change.
- IPBES, December 2024.
- According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature: “a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”.
- The Company Engagement department and BNP Paribas Asset Management are deploying the Group’s €200 million impact investment envelope.