As the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) concludes, Caribbean leaders and global partners are reaffirming one of the region’s most urgent calls: unlocking long-term, sustainable financing for ocean action.

During the conference, the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF), Government of Grenada, OECS, and over 15 international partners convened a high-level side event titled “Actioning Blue: Unlocking Sustainable Ocean Financing and Enhanced Ocean Coordination for Caribbean SIDS.”

The event spotlighted solutions to scale up ocean financing and showcased coordinated regional approaches like the Actioning Blue Political Declaration and the Caribbean Ocean Coordination Mechanism (OCM)—two initiatives driving implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and SDG 14.

“International ambition and science-based evidence help drive the decisions we make in the Caribbean, but Caribbean solutions must be created by Caribbean people. Too often, the special needs of SIDS are overlooked. Taking collective action allows us to amplify our voices as a Caribbean region and ensure that we set our priorities based on our national circumstances and limitations,” said Safiya Sawney, climate ambassador for the Government of Grenada.

Dr Jens Mackensen, head of division for biodiversity and sustainable resource management, Latin America and the Caribbean at the German Development Bank (KfW), added: “The most important currency that we have is not dollars or euros, it is impact.”

“I think that impact is something that makes all the difference for livelihoods on the ground and it is the one currency that we must use to translate the need for financing and the design of financing instruments in a way that drives impact on the ground. We also recognise that the needs of the Caribbean SIDS are changing. That means we also need to change the financial instruments we are offering as funders. I’m happy to see that there are a lot of discussions here at UNOC3 on the types of financing solutions that best fit the needs of the region,” he continued.

The event featured perspectives from governments, donor institutions, development banks, and UN agencies. Panellists explored mechanisms such as blended finance, climate-linked investment, and regional pathways to implementation. They also discussed policy alignment, donor coordination, and improving equity and access to financial resources.

Dr Kina Murphy, SIDS and Africa programme lead at Campaign For Nature, emphasised the urgency: “In Montreal, world leaders agreed that we could only achieve our 30×30 goal if increased financial resources were made available to the Global South, small island developing states (SIDS), and landlocked developing countries (LDCs).”

“As a result, the Global North agreed to deliver an additional US$20 billion in international financing to the Global South by 2025 and US$30 billion by 2030. We are just a few months away from that 2025 deadline, and the 2022 OECD report shows that we have only increased funding to US$15.8 billion. The Global North needs to follow through on its commitment with urgency.”

This event built on the momentum of the launch of the Actioning Blue: Caribbean 30×30 Vision for the Ocean political declaration on June 9 and capped a week of strong regional presence at UNOC3.

The Caribbean’s message was clear: solutions exist, leadership is mobilised, and the path forward demands that the world meets its financing commitments and that regional voices shape the mechanisms through which support is delivered.