Oceans Markets

Private sector solutions for nature-positive outcomes

The oceans inspire and offer hope for nature and people worldwide. When the oceans thrive, the planet regains its natural strength and flourishes, people thrive, societies are prosperous, and the world is more peaceful.

Our oceans provide humans with integral economic and ecosystem services. Over 40% of the global population lives within 62 miles of the coast, while the ocean is the vehicle for over 80% of global trade. The marine world is also a source of affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy and healthy and low-carbon food. The value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year—close to 5% of global gross domestic product (GDP).

The scale of human activity today is driving pressures on ocean health that risk compromising these critical services. Climate change is threatening ecosystem functions at a faster rate than ocean models anticipated. Biodiversity loss is putting immense pressure on global food systems. Pollution is entering our oceans at an alarming rate. Shipping, port development, and tourism are driving unsustainable transformations of coastal areas and jeopardizing ocean ecosystems of high ecological importance.

WWF takes an integrated approach to protecting our oceans, combining place-based conservation work across nature-positive seascapes with global-scale markets and blue finance initiatives. We also focus on oceans futures by incubating, developing, and launching innovative programs at the intersection of climate change, ocean health, and peace and security. All of these workstreams contribute to Nature Positive—the global goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Business has an important role to play—and the future of ocean industries is on the line.

Businesses for nature-positive oceans

Companies that have an impact on the marine and coastal environment are facing increasing pressure to comply with mandatory disclosure requirements, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). They are also encouraged to adopt voluntary measures provided by the Science-Based Targets Network and Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures, and to align with the global policy landscape (Global Biodiversity Framework) as “business as usual” is no longer acceptable.

Industry leaders are not only preparing for upcoming policy and regulatory requirements; they are also integrating nature into their core business decisions. These companies are paving the way for a new business model that prioritizes regeneration, resilience, and transformation to help reverse nature loss and contribute to an equitable, healthy ocean. This approach also makes good business sense, as global predictions suggest that transitioning to nature-friendly models could be worth $10.1 trillion by 2030 and could lead to annual cost reductions of close to $700 billion.

Unsurprisingly, the term ‘Nature Positive’ has gained popularity in ocean markets as an ambitious vision to bend the curve for biodiversity, combat climate change, and tackle global inequities. It is a global societal goal defined as halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline, and achieving full recovery by 2050. While no individual or entity can be nature positive, companies play a crucial role in contributing to the systemic improvements necessary to achieve this goal. They can do so by taking actions for nature, influencing decision-makers and investors, and driving transformation of the sustainable blue economy.

Graphic: Global Goal for Nature: Nature Positive by 2023

Our approach

WWF US aims to grow our global leadership in holistic ocean-based markets engagement for nature-positive outcomes.

WWF engages key ocean markets impacting ocean health and resilience, including seafood, offshore renewables, coastal tourism, and shipping, to develop scalable, durable, and global ocean solutions that are science-based and help support nature-positive outcomes. In the seafood sector alone, WWF has built more than 80 partnerships with companies that have committed to purchasing more sustainable seafood, positively impacting more than 600 fisheries worldwide.

WWF collaborates with private sector entities to help them minimize their environmental and social impacts, improve operational practices, make long-term investments in the seascapes where they operate, and drive significant changes across various sectors, including in policy and finance. By partnering with companies, WWF aims to collectively contribute credible solutions to the global societal goal of nature positive.

AR³T Framework

Avoid: Prevent/eliminate new impact from happening.

Reduce: Minimize, if not eliminate, existing impacts.

Restore: Initiate/accelerate the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity, and sustainability.

Regenerate: Take actions designed within existing ocean, coastal, and aquatic systems to increase the biophysical function and/or ecological productivity of an ecosystem, with a focus on nature's contributions to people.

Transform: Through these steps and further actions, contribute to a system-wide change, notably to alter the drivers of nature loss.

Action Framework

Priority sectors

View of a fleet of artisanal paita fishing boats

Seafood

Over 3 billion people around the world depend on seafood as a significant source of animal protein. The fish industry is a major global food commodity, with a worth of US$406 billion. This industry employs tens of millions of people and feeds billions. The future of the seafood sector is closely linked to the health of the marine environment. For businesses, one solution for promoting ocean health while ensuring long-term supply, profitability, and reputational safety is a well-developed and well-implemented sustainable seafood sourcing strategy. While the sustainable seafood industry has seen success using certification and improvement models, a continued focus on individual fisheries, fleets, and farms has exposed shortcomings around needed systemic improvements across priority seascapes. Initiatives such as Jurisdictional Initiatives that involve coordinated actions across seascapes and engage multiple sectors, can play a transformative role to achieve nature-positive outcomes.

Offshore renewable energy

Offshore renewables are a rapidly growing sector and a crucial part of the global energy transition. They play a key role in meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets and in helping to halt biodiversity loss. Offshore wind, as a significant ocean-based climate solution, is expected to expand by 13 times over the next decade, from around 6 GW in 2020 to 80 GW by 2030. To enable this significant expansion of offshore wind production, science-based solutions are required, while also enhancing ocean biodiversity and resilience for a nature-positive future. WWF works with developers to improve operational practices and develop strategies that lead to better outcomes for biodiversity, people, and climate.

Coastal tourism

The coastal tourism sector plays a significant role in the economy of coastal communities worldwide and in small island developing states. However, it also has substantial environmental and social impacts. Given the industry’s reliance on social and ecological services, there is a significant opportunity for improved sustainable development and blue economic growth in coastal regions. WWF employs a community-based, climate-smart nature restoration approach to support sustainable development through tourism.

Shipping

The international shipping industry plays a crucial role in transporting about 90% of world trade. Without shipping, international trade and the import/export of essential goods like food would not be possible. However, this industry poses a significant threat to our oceans. It’s more important than ever to adopt sustainable shipping solutions to prevent or reduce the negative impacts of shipping, such as marine mammal strikes, noise disturbance, and harmful spills. These solutions are vital for protecting marine resources that Indigenous peoples and local communities have stewarded over thousands of years. We can accelerate efforts to mitigate these impacts by working with industry to scale standards through voluntary adoption, promote corporate leadership, and advocate for industry-wide change.

Business has a critical role to play in halting and reversing nature loss. Forward-thinking companies and investors can reduce risk and future-proof their businesses and portfolios by making commitments, taking action, and calling for change.

WWF is actively building partnerships and collaborating with industry leaders across these four sectors to advance this effort. The oceans inspire and offer hope for biodiversity and people worldwide, which means they are worth protecting, restoring, and nurturing. WWF believes that when the planet regains its natural strength and flourishes, people thrive, societies prosper, and the world is more peaceful.

Find out more

Nature Positive Ocean Science

Our nature positive ocean science work builds science-based approaches to encourage credible contributions to a nature-positive future for the Ocean. We develop, recommend, and assess tools, frameworks, guidance, and recommendations for companies, financial institutions, and policymakers.

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Blue Finance

Our innovative blue financing work focuses on influencing and engaging financial markets using a strong case for action to shift capital away from harmful activities within key blue economy sectors and toward sustainable pathways that strengthen environmental, social, and economic resilience.

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