Key Takeaways

  •   ADB and the ACGF set up the Blue SEA Finance Hub to help Southeast Asian governments develop and finance bankable ocean health projects and to build a sustainable blue economy in the region.
  •   Blue infrastructure financing is a key concern for realizing the blue economy’s true potential. ADB estimates that $1.7 trillion annually is needed for green infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific region, including for ocean health.
  •   Southeast Asia has great potential for a vibrant blue economy owing to its biodiversity and rich natural resources. ADB’s Blue SEA Finance Hub supports the region’s blue economy through catalytic financing and capacity development.

As Asia and the Pacific’s climate bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is scaling up financing for ocean health and a sustainable blue economy. The world’s oceans face growing threats from unchecked pollution and unsustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices.

Southeast Asian countries are not only especially vulnerable to these negative impacts, but also among the worst polluters. Recognizing the need for a regional initiative to improve capacities, knowledge, and project pipelines supporting ocean health and a sustainable blue economy, ADB established the Blue SEA (Southeast Asia) Finance Hub at its Indonesia Resident Mission in November 2021. The Hub is supported by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) which was launched in April 2019 to promote green infrastructure investments in Southeast Asia.

Here are 10 things to know about the Blue SEA (Southeast Asia) Finance Hub:

Neighbors help pull a fishing net in Gentuma Raya, Gorontalo, Indonesia.
Neighbors help pull a fishing net in Gentuma Raya, Gorontalo, Indonesia. Photo: ADB

  1. The world’s oceans offer endless economic opportunities in sectors such as sustainable tourism, food production, waste treatment, and sustainable coastal infrastructure.

    Source: Financing the Ocean Back to Health in Southeast Asia: Approaches for Mainstreaming Blue Finance

  2. But ocean health is feeling the consequences of decades of unabated and unsustainable practices at sea and on land such as overfishing, mining, pollution, waste dumping, and human-induced climate change. An estimated 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, mostly from Asia and the Pacific.

    Source: Financing the Ocean Back to Health in Southeast Asia: Approaches for Mainstreaming Blue Finance

  3. The blue economy market has its own set of challenges as it is currently in its early but rapidly developing stages. One of the challenges is the absence of a widely accepted definition of what makes an investment “blue” and there are no assurance requirements in reporting an investment’s impact.

    Source: Financing the Ocean Back to Health in Southeast Asia: Approaches for Mainstreaming Blue Finance

  4. Blue infrastructure financing is a key concern for realizing the blue economy’s true potential. ADB estimates that $1.7 trillion annually is needed for green infrastructure in the Asia and the Pacific region, including for ocean health. Traditional ways of raising financing cannot meet the estimated need. Innovative financing structures that can bring in both public and private investments will be required.

    Source: Meeting Asia's Infrastructure Needs

  5. ADB set up the Blue SEA Finance Hub to help Southeast Asian governments develop and access finance for bankable ocean health projects by supporting innovative structuring of blue projects, strengthening capacities of governments, and helping small- and medium-sized enterprises in the blue sectors enhance their business models and gain access to financing.

    Source: Blue SEA Finance Hub

  6. The Blue SEA Finance Hub will help Southeast Asia reduce ocean pollution and adapt to impacts of climate change by accelerating the development of a pipeline of “blue” projects worth at least $300 million by 2024 that can attract private and public financing.

    Source: Blue SEA Finance Hub

  7. The Hub was designed to support ADB’s overall Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies, which aims to catalyze up to $5 billion worth of financing solutions and technical assistance for ocean health protection and its biodiversity conservation and marine economy projects through financing and support of ADB and its partners from 2019 to 2024. The Hub is a concrete pilot initiative, hosted in Indonesia but covering several ASEAN countries.

    Source: Blue SEA Finance Hub

  8. The work of the Hub is in line with ADB’s Oceans Financing Initiative which seeks to accelerate blue investments in Asia and the Pacific by helping developing member countries catalyze financing for projects that aim to protect and restore marine ecosystems and promote sustainable blue economies.

    Source: Oceans Financing Initiative

  9. To achieve its objectives, the Blue SEA Finance Hub will identify and structure ocean health projects to make them more bankable, ensure optimal risk-sharing among those involved in the projects, and, when needed, guarantee credit worthiness to generate interest from public and private funding sources.

    Source: Blue SEA Finance Hub

  10. The Blue SEA Finance Hub will build capacities of central and local governments and state-owned enterprises on identifying and developing healthy oceans and blue projects, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, sustainable business approaches, and innovative finance mechanisms and instruments. SDG 14 promotes the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.

    Source: Blue SEA Finance Hub

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Subjects 
  • Environment

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