My takeaways from UNOC: a game-changing momentum for Oceans

Attending UNOC-3 alongside a fantastic AXA delegation and many partners from the Ocean friends’ community was both an honor and an inspiring experience. Why was it important for AXA to participate? What is at stake for the insurance industry and how can it contribute to a thriving ocean? Let’s find out.

Knowledge is key

It all stars with knowledge! During the Ocean Science Congress organized under the leadership of François Houllier , President of Ifremer , the AXA Research Fund teams highlighted our long-lasting support to Ocean Science with close to €10M of philanthropic funding over the past 15 years.

• We were proud to announce our support to the launch of the International Platform for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS), an international consortium of leading academics and researchers from different backgrounds and disciplines officially mandated to inform international and multilateral decision makers on Oceans.

Towards a regenerative ocean economy

If the Ocean was an economy, it would be the 5th worldwide in terms of GDP. And yet, it receives less than 0.01% of total global investments. That’s why the Blue Economy & Finance Forum held in Monaco the weekend before UNOC was so important. For the first time several heads of states, business leaders, philanthropists and NGOs gathered to discuss how to make the oceans investable and how to seize the economic opportunity in fostering a regenerative ocean economy.

As Christine Lagarde said it in her inspiring introduction (which other Central Banker would open a finance conference quoting Charles Baudelaire!), the economic value at risk of an unprotected Ocean starts with its insurability. And it’s true, the role of insurance in incentivizing ocean protection and regeneration was front and center across all discussions!

• Because a lot of work is still needed to better structure projects & investment products around the ocean space, AXA was thrilled to announce renewed support to its long standing partner Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance , with funding to help develop the Octopus Desk (a first-of-a-kind AI driven platform linking blue economy projects and investors, also backed by Salesforce , investment firm 2050 and Waves of Change Coalition ). As Karen Sack repeatedly said: We should be patient with capital, but impatient with action!

We cannot do without multilateralism

Multilateralism is the only way to save the ocean. Despite the current geopolitical tensions, it was impressive to see 63 Heads of States, as well as representatives and delegations from over 174 nations, gather in Nice for a whole week to make decisive progress on key international agreements such as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) or the Treaty on Plastic Pollution. I was lucky to participate in the panel chaired by Jamaica and Iceland on “Mobilizing Finance for Ocean Actions in Support of SDG14,” alongside Mafalda Duarte , Pradeep Kurukulasuriya , Dona Bertarelli , Jorge Moreira da Silva and Pieternel Boogaard , with a great moderation from Karen Sack . It was the opportunity to highlight the important role insurance can play in de-risking investments for sustainable oceans. I was proud to showcase some of the latest initiatives, AXA has taken on this front:

• Insuring sustainable ocean practices (decarbonization of maritime transport through AXA XL , collaboration with Le Cedre to reduce risks of pollution when insured industrial sites are damaged);
• Developing parametric insurance for Marine Protected Areas thanks to AXA Climate ad ClimateSeed , with a concrete example in AXA México (protection of fishing communities from tropical cyclones);
• Supporting the development of debt-for-nature swaps, where countries reduce their debt burden in exchange for marine conservation commitments, backed by credit insurance provided by AXA XL (as already implemented in the Bahamas).

Innovate, inspire, hope

Finally, driving ocean action is all about inspiration and hope. At “La Baleine” in the center of Nice, I met and exchanged with fantastic ocean innovators and entrepreneurs working on solutions ready to be scaled, be it on ocean-based carbon storage, seaweed farming, developing biomaterials which could save coral reefs, tapping the potential of blue energy, scaling ocean depollution from plastics and chemicals.

As a company committed to continuing to play its role in this major endeavour, building awareness and sharing inspiration across our teams and stakeholders will continue to be key in the years to come.

• This is why we renewed our partnership with the Tara Ocean Fondation , for a new scientific expedition across Southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle.
• We will also continue working on oceans with the “Reds for blue” initiative, co-created with Tara Ocean Fondation and our partner the Liverpool Football Club , aiming at supporting science and making it accessible.
• And because protecting our oceans is key to protect our heritage, we were proud to launch a new strategic partnership with the Mediterranean Archaeology Association, fostering scientific research in archaeology and raising awareness about the importance of heritage preservation. A big thanks to AXA Türkiye for leading the way on this important topic!

Congratulations to France and Costa-Rica for the momentum and advances on the Ocean agenda. Kudos to Olivier Poivre d'Arvor and Ashok Adicéam for having organized a memorable and game changing UNOC. Congratulations to Pascal Lamy for his leadership in rallying finance and business around the Oceans in Monaco. And a heartfelt thanks to our dear Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance team, and the one and only Karen Sack for their relentless energy and determination in this battle.