Philanthropic giving for marine conservation has nearly doubled over the past decade, with a slew of newer ocean funders — including the Bezos Earth Fund — spending on issues such as protecting critical habitats and addressing climate change, according to a report released Tuesday by research group Our Shared Seas.
Philanthropies spent about $1.2 billion on marine conservation efforts in 2020, and their funding levels were comparable to official development assistance for the area from 2010 to 2019, the report says. Still, total funding for ocean conservation remains just a small portion of charitable contributions for the environment.
The number of marine funders more than tripled from 486 to around 1,600 between 2010 and 2020 as organizations such as the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, National Philanthropic Trust, and Walmart.org, among others, entered the space for the first time.
Last year, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — one of the world’s richest people, with a net worth of nearly $200 billion — pledged $10 billion for a new fund to tackle climate change. The organization became one of the top 20 marine funders in 2021 after giving a $12.5 million grant to ClimateWorks Foundation for decarbonizing shipping and a $100 million grant to World Wildlife Fund, according to the report.
“The Bezos Earth Fund also made grants to at least two other ocean-related organizations, but the details of that work has not yet been determined,” it reads.
Giving among major donors has risen overall, with the top five funders for 2020 — the Marine Preservation Association, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, National Philanthropic Trust, and David and Lucile Packard Foundation — accounting for 44% of all ocean contributions, the findings show.
The leading recipients of funding from 2010 to 2020 were research institutions and large, international environmental NGOs. Top areas for grant-making included science, protected areas and habitat protection, fisheries, aquaculture, climate and energy, seafood markets, and pollution and industrial stressors.
‘Build back bluer’: Small island developing states pursue new finance mechanisms
As SIDS work to recover, diversify their economies, and build resilience for future shocks, blended finance can help them draw in impact investment and private sector financing to support their transition to sustainable ocean economies.
Asia was the third-highest recipient of funding during this period, after global initiatives and North America. The average annual growth rate for North America has been low, which suggests that ocean funders may be shifting their attention beyond the continent, the report says. While funding has increased for nearly all geographies, Africa still receives less than 3% of the global total.
The report notes that an increasing number of foundations have created strategies to address the threat of climate change for the ocean “while also positioning the ocean as a source of climate solutions,” such as reducing the shipping industry’s carbon emissions.
Rising funding for climate and energy could be critical as countries grapple with the reality presented in a report released this week by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned that a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius is likely inevitable and recommended action to prevent further warming.