James Mansfield
Managing Director
Blue Impact Fund
Finance Earth and WWF have collaborated since 2018 to explore opportunities for attracting investment into ocean recovery.
Building on this partnership, Finance Earth created the Blue Impact Fund, a pioneering impact fund investing in the UK sustainable blue economy.
The Blue Impact Fund will target enterprises producing sustainable seafood and aquatic plants that can generate attractive returns while delivering ocean resilience and recovery.
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Background
The blue economy is expected to double over the next decade. However, unsustainable economic activity is driving widespread loss of marine biodiversity, degrading and destroying vital habitats and the wildlife that depend on them.
However, the technologies and expertise required to ensure the sustainable growth of the blue economy exist in the world today, with new innovative solutions constantly in development. Enterprises that directly improve the resilience of or reduce pressure on the marine environment make up only a small part of the overall blue economy. We want to change that.
WWF believes that alongside restoring and protecting the ocean, targeted investment into marine enterprises is fundamental to delivering the transition to a sustainable blue economy, creating social and economic benefits for current and future generations.
Finance Earth and WWF have collaborated to research and map the most impactful, investable opportunities for the UK sustainable blue economy. The Blue Impact Fund has been created as a result of this collaboration, with Finance Earth acting as fund manager, guided by a team of specialist advisors comprising representatives from across the seafood, investment and marine conservation sectors. WWF will maintain an advisory role to the fund.
Investment opportunity
Global food fish consumption has grown faster over the last six decades than that of all terrestrial animals combined.[source: FAO] Aquaculture – the farming of seafood and aquatic plants – is the fastest-growing food production method globally, a trend that is projected to continue over the next decade.
Furthermore, innovation and development within the sector has demonstrated additional, alternative uses for aquatic plants, such as in the creation of bioplastics and as key ingredients in nutraceuticals.
Impact opportunity
| Impact |
How |
| Protect and restore marine ecosystems |
|
| Reduce carbon and ecological footprint |
|
| Improve livelihoods, health and wellbeing for communities |
|
Investment strategy
The Blue Impact Fund aims to build a diversified portfolio of investments that will create further opportunities for portfolio synergies. Seafood and aquatic plants, and their connected supply chains, present market-ready investment opportunities that provide substantial and lasting social and environmental benefits, while also being underpinned by significant and growing market demand.
The investment team has developed a high-quality pipeline across the following key themes:
- Marine aquaculture including inshore and offshore production
- Land-based production using Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and other emerging technologies
- Seafood supply chain enterprises including upstream supply (for example, sustainable fish feed) and downstream processing and sales
The Blue Impact Fund will continue to explore emerging opportunities for investing in ocean recovery.
All Blue Impact Fund investments are subject to rigorous impact assessment criteria that has been carefully designed in collaboration with WWF, ensuring that the Blue Impact Fund upholds industry best practice and enables continued, sustainable innovation and growth.
Enhancing impact through an Ocean Recovery Trust
The Blue Impact Fund has been created alongside an aligned charity, the Ocean Recovery Trust, that will work to restore ocean health by funding innovation, capacity building, and marine conservation programmes, growing the sustainable blue economy and delivering ocean restoration.
The Ocean Recovery Trust will be funded through a ‘conservation dividend’ generated by the Blue Impact Fund, alongside additional philanthropic donations.
The team
Finance Earth have developed a specialist investment team with deep understanding of the seafood and aquatic plant markets and the unique risks and opportunities within them.
Specialist advisors
Daniel Fairweather
Aquaculture Risk Specialist
Piers Hart
Seafood Impact Specialist
Lucy Holmes
Sustainable Seafood Finance Specialist
Shane Hunter
Technical Specialist
Dennis Overton
Seafood Commercial Specialist
