It's Day One of Economist Impact's World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific. Join us today for some fantastic sessions. I will be moderating a panel discussion in the Finance track on "developing the business case to attract early investors".

I am looking forward to moderating six sessions at Economist Impact's World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific next week (December 6th–10th). The theme of the summit is "Investing in a blue economy".

Dive into the World Ocean Initiative's latest coverage to learn about a range of blue finance initiatives that can help protect seascapes and marine habitats while setting the foundation for a thriving future ocean economy.

Our World Ocean Summit Virtual Week concluded successfully last week. We welcomed more than 8,500 registered participants and more than 6,000 active users on our virtual platform during the week. Here I summarise some key conclusions and observations, from the importance of ocean literacy and nature-based solutions to the need for collaboration and investable innovations.

On September 8th I will be moderating a session on “A Sustainable Ocean Economy” at the Founders Forum Climate Summit during London Tech Week. I will be joined by a great panel of ocean investment experts.

As part of the Blue Recovery Series, the World Ocean Initiative hosted a webinar on the roles of science, innovation and investment in establishing a sustainable ocean economy in the post-coronavirus period.

On 19 August I spoke about the economics of coral reef ecosystems at an Ocean Exchange webinar. It was great to learn from Sam Teicher of Coral Vita about his company's coral reef restoration projects.

In a guest article for Innovation News Network I examine how Innovation is crucial to both harness the opportunities a sustainable ocean economy can offer and address the risks that ocean degradation poses. Innovative solutions include ocean energy, the decarbonisation of shipping, aquaculture, ecosystem restoration and ‘blue carbon’, ocean geoengineering, and blue finance.