尊敬的郑市长，沈副市长，王副行长，女士们，先生们， 大家早上好。

感谢烟台市政府与北京绿色金融与可持续发展研究院的邀请，我很荣幸代表联合国开发计划署参加本次大会。

Ladies and Gentlemen- good morning!

I am delighted to join you in the dynamic coastal city of Yantai, to discuss crucial financing for protecting a vital life source: our oceans.

These not only provide much of our oxygen, but also food and livelihoods to over three billion people around the world.  They also regulate our weather and help to slow climate change.

That’s because oceans are major carbon and heat sinks. They absorb over 90 percent of the excess heat and 30 percent of carbon emissions that humans generate.

Yet, while we take this all for granted, threats like climate change, overfishing, and pollution put nearly 40 percent of our oceans at risk.

Indeed, while none of the Sustainable Development Goals to protect people and planet will be met by the 2030 deadline, Goal 14: Life Below Water, is especially far behind. Half of its targets are regressing – and 95 percent of its funding needs remain unfilled.

Yet, the world does have the finance to put the SDGs back on track. Just 1 percent of global financial assets could close the funding gap for all 17 SDGs, not just Goal 14. The real challenge therefore is how we prioritize investments and allocate them towards the SDGs.

Rescuing our oceans should not be seen as a cost, but as an opportunity for sustainable growth.

The ocean economy is worth up to 6 trillion dollars per year. That’s about 5% of global GDP. Conversely, the cost of inaction, especially in managing marine pollution, poses heavy financial risks to businesses, of potentially 100 billion dollars per year by 2040.

With stakes so high, we cannot afford to delay. It is time to accelerate our efforts and mobilize solutions at scale.

The new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, negotiated under China’s COP presidency, is key here. It marks a new era in global ocean governance and signals a shift from business-as-usual, to sustainable marine resource use, by including - for the first time - a target of protecting at least 30 percent of the world's oceans in addition to 30 percent of land surface by 2030.

Financial markets globally are also increasingly committing to conservation of the seas. In 2018, the Seychelles issued the first blue bond, raising 15 million dollars. By the end of 2023, blue bonds reached 6.8 billion dollars globally.

Seizing this momentum, UNDP supports costal countries in capitalizing on blue sector opportunities. In Cabo Verde, we helped build the world’s first blue economy sustainable financing platform. This connects Cabo Verde’s domestic market with the Luxembourg Exchange, resulting in six successful issuances, totalling 35 million Euros. It also shows the power of targeted financial instruments for scalable impact.

In China, the blue economy also continues to expand. In 2023, China’s gross ocean product reached 9.91 trillion-yuan. That’s 7.9 percent of GDP, while growing faster than the national average.

Bank of China issued Asia’s first blue bond in 2020, raising almost 1 billion dollars for marine projects. This was followed by the issuance of five Blue Bonds in China's domestic market in 2023, worth more than 3 billion dollars; highlighting the potential for blue growth in China's financial sector.