Bonds for Ocean Conservation transforms ocean protection on a global scale by enabling countries to refinance debt and instead invest billions into saving our seas.
Oceans are essential to all life on our planet, including human life. They cover two-thirds of the Earth, yet funding to protect them remains critically low.
The unfortunate reality is that many of the world’s most biodiverse marine ecosystems lie within nations burdened by huge debts. At the same time, these countries are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change.
Such heavy debt makes it almost impossible for governments to prioritise conservation, even when they recognise how vital it is to safeguard marine habitats. The result is a dangerous imbalance: ecosystems under increasing pressure from climate change, overfishing, and pollution, but without the financial resources to ensure their long-term protection.
Conserving these habitats is not optional — it is critical for biodiversity, global food security, and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the ocean.
Bonds for Ocean Conservation, pioneered by the Debt for Nature Coalition is scaling the protection of our seas. Through debt swapping initiatives that help countries refinance expensive debt on more favourable terms. The savings countries make are then redirected into long-term ocean protection and climate resilience projects.
Led by six global environmental organisations – Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Re:wild, Wildlife Conservation Society, and World Wildlife Fund in the US – the initiative is straightforward but transformative. By easing debt burdens, countries can unlock significant resources for conservation, without sacrificing their economic stability.
The results are already visible. In the Galápagos Islands, a debt conversion agreement saved Ecuador over $1 billion and channelled $450 million directly into marine conservation. This progress sparked new commitments to improve fisheries management and the creation of the 6-million-hectare Hermandad Marine Reserve, home to sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, and other endangered species.
Protecting marine areas at this scale generate huge ripple effects of healthy biodiversity, which in turn supports fish stocks, livelihoods, and vital food sources around the world.
So far, Bonds for Ocean Conservation has enabled debt conversions in Seychelles, Belize, Barbados, Gabon, the Galápagos, The Bahamas and the Ecuadorian Amazon, with more than $1.4 billion already made available. This money will be transformative, helping to protect nearly 3 million km2 of land and ocean – an area equivalent in size to Argentina.
By 2030, the Coalition aims to double the impact of Bonds for Ocean Conservation, unlocking over $3 billion in funding for conservation and climate action across the globe. This is finance that fuels real progress, it’s an unstoppable wave of protection for our oceans.
The world’s biodiversity and climate crises are compounded by the global debt crisis. The ‘Nature Bonds’ debt conversion model is a proven, scalable solution which uniquely addresses all three.
We are exceedingly proud of the innovative debt conversion work we have supported in six different sovereign nations, and yet recognize that our planet needs more and faster. The radical collaboration, scalability and transparency made possible through the Debt for Nature Coalition are exactly the type of ambition required in this moment for our planet and for future generations.
