Closing the Data-Finance Gap for Locally Led Ocean Action
As momentum grows to protect and restore marine ecosystems, a critical question remains: how can funding reach the local communities whose stewardship is essential to achieving lasting ocean outcomes?
Despite growing commitments from governments, development banks, and philanthropic donors to protect marine ecosystems, less than 10% of ocean-related funding reaches community-level actors — not for lack of qualified organizations, but because existing finance mechanisms weren’t designed with them in mind. This side event brings together communities, funders, governments, and data and technical providers to tackle that disconnect head-on. Drawing lessons from proven land restoration models in Africa— including TerraFund and the Land Accelerator — speakers will explore how redesigning funding access, monitoring systems, and capacity support can unlock finance for locally led ocean action. Topics will include what data local organizations need to access finance, how Indigenous and community knowledge can be integrated alongside conventional science, and what it takes to build the trust and transparency that makes these partnerships work. The event will close with a call to action: an invitation for countries and organizations to contribute to a set of globally-informed principles for equitable, community-centered ocean finance and to join a community of practice committed to making those principles a reality.
Organizers: World Resources Institute, Government of Palau, AFR100, Data4Moz
