Tracking international aid projects for ocean conservation and climate action

Ocean conservation and sustainable use cannot be pursued or achieved without
consideration of the planetary impacts of climate change, and particularly the role of the
oceans in both mitigation and adaptation. For this reason, the international community has
increasingly committed to providing aid to help finance public goods for ocean conservation
and climate action. Although many organizations have set up mechanisms to track both
aid and climate finance, such trackers are usually not focused on financial flows related
to ocean conservation and climate action. In the absence of such coordinated tracking and
monitoring of aid, policymakers cannot assess the attention or priority of international
funding mechanisms on oceans and ocean-related climate issues. As such, the purpose of
this study is to contribute to efforts to track aid for ocean conservation and climate action by
providing a comprehensive baseline of international flows, by relevant global goal and target.
We will build upon recent efforts that have established a baseline for international institutions
operating at the global level. According to the data collected, we estimate that the cumulative
public financing for ocean conservation and climate action grew from USD579 million in
2013 to over USD3.5 billion in 2019.