Sustainable fishing, the circular economy and biodiversity conservation: KfW supports the Sustainable Ocean Fund

Frankfurt am Main (ots) -

- Contribution to global food security
- Coastal protection as a business model: mobilising private
capital through small and medium-sized businesses
- Less plastic waste in the oceans

Today, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ), KfW signed a fiduciary holding in the Sustainable Ocean Fund
(SOF) amounting to EUR 25 million for the Caribbean. The fund invests in small
and medium-sized businesses that operate sustainable fisheries, are committed to
preserving marine and coastal ecosystems, and recycle waste in order to reduce
plastic pollution in the oceans, as part of a circular economy.

The effects of climate change, environmental pollution, and largely
unsustainable exploitation of the oceans is leading to a loss of biodiversity in
the Caribbean. These factors and heavy overfishing make the lives of local
people more difficult because income from fishing is decreasing. Dwindling fish
stocks also present a problem for the increasing global demand for fish and
seafood. So it is necessary to curtail overfishing in the oceans and ensure
global food security with more efficient fishing methods. On the other hand,
improved management and monitoring of coastal and marine conservation areas
helps to reduce the influx of waste from these areas into the oceans, while also
protecting mangrove forests, which serve to store significant amounts of CO2.
The local population is seeing new prospects for income generated by certified
fishing, sustainable tourism and other areas of the 'blue economy' as a result
of the measures promoted by the SOF.

"KfW supports what is known as the 'blue economy' approach, which mobilises
private capital to conserve the Earth's ecosystems and simultaneously creates
jobs through the use of innovative financial instruments like the Sustainable
Ocean Fund. As a result, species and coastal area conservation is turning into
an interesting business model for many small and medium-sized private
companies", said Prof. Dr Joachim Nagel, member of KfW Group's Executive Board.

Due to its participation in the Sustainable Ocean Fund, KfW acts as what is
known as an anchor investor, mobilising additional co-investors in the fund,
which strives to achieve a total volume of up to USD 150 million (investor
commitments to date currently amount to USD 50 million). The Fund intends to
primarily invest in small and medium-sized businesses in the Caribbean (40%) but
also in Africa (30%) as well as Asia and the Pacific Rim countries (30%). The
BMZ funds are specifically intended for investments in the Caribbean. The
projects are part of the Clean Ocean Initiative created in 2018 by KfW
Development Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Française de
Développement (AFD). Their goal is to reduce the pollution of the world's oceans
due to waste - especially plastic waste - by 2023.

Further information about KfW Development Bank can be found at:
http://ots.de/w4rPM5.

Find out more about the Clean Oceans Initiative at:
https://www.kfw.de/stories/dossier-plastic-waste-en.html

Pressekontakt:
KfW, Palmengartenstr. 5 - 9, 60325 Frankfurt
Kommunikation (KOM), Dr. Charis Pöthig
Tel. +49 (0)69 7431 4683, Fax: +49 (0)69 7431 3266,
E-Mail: Charis.Poehtig@kfw.de, Internet: www.kfw.de

Original-Content von: KfW, übermittelt durch news aktuell