World's First Small-Scale Fisheries Impact Bond

Intervention

Social or environmental challenge

"Lack of protection is causing ocean biodiversity to plummet, creating an existential crisis. The global 30x30 initiative is crucial to addressing these issues by protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. In coastal communities, the active management of SSF and associated coastal wetland ecosystems can combat climate changes while supporting the local economy. SSF provide significant benefits to coastal communities including climate resilience and mitigation, economic growth, and food security. However, SSF are chronically underfunded, under-resourced, and suffer from the sector's informality, which prevents its ability to absorb capital.

This program addresses ocean protection and sector formality by:
1. Increasing KM2 of ocean protection by establishing MA+R
2. Stabilizing biomass and benthic coverage by actively managing reserves
3. Establishing a community-led Fisheries Management Bodies (FMBs) as legal entities.
4. Bringing SSF microbusinesses into the formal economy and strengthening their capacity along domestic value chains."

Description of the intervention

"This project seeks to secure design funding for Cohort 2 funding for the world's first SSF impact bond for the establishment and operation of at least 10 new Managed Access with Reserves (MA+Rs), a fisheries management system which balances sustainable use and protection, in Indonesia and the Philippines.

In support of the UN's 30x30 targets, the bond revenue will be used to establish MA+Rs within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) or as Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs). This results will strengthening the target geographies' resilience to climate change and mitigation capacity, while enhancing their ability to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, directly contributing to SDGs 13 and 8.

This second cohort of the bond aims to convert Cohort 1's proof-of-concept structure to a scalable model of a Social Impact Bond for Cohort 2 and beyond. The launch of Cohort 1 is targeted for Q1 2024.

The vision of Cohort 2 covers:
- Target investment US$25-50 million
- Outcome funders include governments
- Impact areas include MA+R coverage; Fish biomass stabilization; Benthic coverage (including coral reefs); Microbusiness formalization
- Measurable formalization successes from the innovation piece of Cohort 1 may be included in Cohort Two as premium payments, i.e. microbusiness formalization"

Last data update

Data for this pipeline project was last updated in March 2024