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Season 3, Episode 4: Unlocking Capital for a Regenerative Blue Economy with Melissa Walsh

How do we fix a broken system — and unlock the investment needed to save our oceans?

Despite the urgency of the climate crisis, ocean conservation remains dramatically underfunded. In this episode, we explore how to change that by building a true capital market for the ocean.

Our guest, Dr. Melissa Walsh — a global leader in blue finance and Director of Blue Finance & Scaling at ORRAA — explains why blue finance has lagged behind green finance, what’s holding investors back, and how we can redesign the system so money flows to ocean solutions at scale.

We break down:

• 🌊 Why oceans are still “invisible” in global finance
• ⚓ The risks and barriers that stop investment — and how to remove them
• 💡 How ORRAA is acting as the connective tissue between finance, insurance, governments & communities
• 🔄 Tools that de-risk ocean projects, like SCIFF and the Nautilus Blue Guarantee
• 📊 Why the world needs shared “ocean-positive” metrics to prevent bluewashing
• 🤝 The future of blue equity — ensuring coastal communities benefit from a thriving ocean economy

This episode offers a clear, hopeful roadmap for shifting from extraction to regeneration, and finally giving the ocean the investment it deserves.

About Our Guest:

Dr. Melissa Walsh is the Director of Blue Finance and Scaling at the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). A leading global expert in ocean finance and the blue economy, she transitioned from a 24-year career in coral reef biogeochemistry and science management to tackle the primary roadblock she saw in conservation: a lack of capital. Today, she works to build the systems, partnerships, and financial products needed to drive investment toward a sustainable and resilient ocean.

Learn More From Our Guest / Episode Resources:

Learn more about the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA): https://oceanriskalliance.org/

Explore ORRAA's SeaChange Impact Finance Facility (SCIFF): https://oceanriskalliance.org/blue-finance/

Discover the BackBlue Initiative: https://oceanriskalliance.org/project/back-blue-ocean-finance-commitment/

Read about the Nautilus Blue Guarantee Company: https://www.guarantee.blue/

What are your thoughts on building a blue economy? Do you believe these financial tools can create the systemic change we need? Let us know in the comments below! Don't forget to like this video and subscribe for more conversations with the people on the front lines of protecting our planet.

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How do we move beyond small, isolated conservation projects to protect nature at scale?

This special episode of 4Nature, made for the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025, explores what transformational leadership looks like in practice. Host David Meyers speaks with two trailblazing leaders—Kathleen Fitzgerald, Project Director for Enduring Earth, and Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy, Regional Ocean Governance Manager for IUCN—who are reimagining how conservation can empower communities and achieve durable, system-wide impact.

Kathleen shares how the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model brings together governments, funders, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities around long-term conservation goals. She highlights how Indigenous-led PFPs in Canada are setting a new global standard for inclusive, lasting protection.

From the ocean’s edge, Vatosoa recounts her journey leading Madagascar’s Mihari Network and building a Western Indian Ocean alliance for Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). She emphasizes that the traditional knowledge of small-scale fishers—“a PhD in the ocean”—must guide conservation, supported by tools like LMMA trust funds that channel resources directly to communities.

Together, their stories reveal how humility, persistence, and local leadership can transform conservation from short-term projects into resilient systems that work for both people and nature.

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Every breath you take is free - but in an economic system that only values what's priced, could this be nature's greatest vulnerability? In this rare podcast-meets-podcast exchange, David Meyers and Juan Pablo Romero Rodríguez (host of Poder Ambiental) flip between interviewer and interviewee to dissect this dangerous paradox. Their conversation transcends typical environmental gloom, revealing how innovative financial mechanisms are already transforming our relationship with nature - from biodiversity credits empowering Global South economies to debt-for-nature swaps creating billion-dollar conservation opportunities. As the two environmental specialists analyze not just what we say about nature but how we say it, they unveil why reframing our relationship with the natural world might be less about saving the planet and more about saving ourselves.

Links:

uan Pablo Romero Rodríguez 's Podcast website

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What if we've built conservation markets backward? Mike Korchinsky, founder of Wildlife Works, reveals how we've created elaborate systems to pay for reducing destruction while assigning zero value to what remains intact. After pioneering REDD+ carbon credits that moved millions to indigenous communities, Korchinsky is now challenging both corporate leaders and environmental activists with a provocative framework: "The market is the worst form of conservation finance - except for all the others." His work with Amazonian indigenous peoples has produced a revolutionary financial instrument that values functioning ecosystems rather than just measuring avoided harm. Join this philosophical journey through the carbon market's turbulent history to discover why the future of biodiversity finance might depend on abandoning guilt-based "footprint" approaches for something radically simpler: recognizing and rewarding what communities have protected for millennia.

Links:

Wildlife Works website

The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project

Biodiversity Stewardship Unit/methodology information

Verra

CFA's Nature Credit Task Force

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What if money flowed through landscapes like water - nurturing life and creating abundance - instead of extracting value and leaving depletion behind? Samantha Power, regenerative economist and co-founder of the BioFi Project, reveals how "bioregional financing facilities" keep capital rooted in places like nutrients in healthy soil. From community-governed trusts to venture studios supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs, her four innovative models challenge the assumption that finance must operate in opposition to nature. Already transforming economic relationships from California to the Amazon, these approaches build local capital aligned with living systems rather than extracting wealth from them. Join this paradigm-shifting conversation to discover not just how to increase investment in nature, but how to fundamentally reimagine our relationship with capital to serve life itself.

Links:
Samantha Power's book: "Bioregional Financing Facilities: Reimagining Finance to Regenerate Our Planet"

The BioFi Project

Finance for Gaia

Commonland

Planet Drum Foundation

Capital Institute

Fritjof Capra's work on living systems principles

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Today we dive into the remarkable story of Mozambique's BIOFUND, a trailblazing conservation trust fund that has revolutionized biodiversity protection in the country. Join our conversation with BIOFUND's visionary leaders, Dr. Narciso Matos and Sean Nazerali, as they share insights on the fund's innovative approach to engaging local communities, fostering public-private partnerships, and achieving impressive financial growth.

Discussed in this Episode:

• BIOFUND's unique membership model for engaging conservation stakeholders
• Strategies for efficiently disbursing funds to support protected areas
• The critical role of conservation trust funds during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic
• Approaches for aligning community development with conservation goals
• Innovative finance mechanisms being explored, such as biodiversity offsets and a conservation credit card
• Vision for BIOFUND's future growth and impact in Mozambique and beyond

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Sinclair Vincent currently serves as the Senior Director of Sustainable Development, Program Development, and Innovation at Verra, a leading organization driving global investment in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. In her role, Sinclair oversees the strategy, direction, and evolution of Verra's suite of programs, including the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard, the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Standards, and the Plastic Waste Reduction Standard. She is also spearheading the development of Verra's SD VISta Nature Framework, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at scaling investment in biodiversity conservation on a global scale. With a strong focus on market development, Sinclair engages with corporate, commercial, and government stakeholders to ensure Verra's programs empower users to set and achieve increasingly ambitious environmental and social goals.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The crucial role of standardized measurement in scaling biodiversity credit markets
• Strategies for engaging Indigenous peoples and local communities in nature conservation
• The future of biodiversity credits and their potential to drive investment in nature
• Navigating the complex landscape of emerging biodiversity credit methodologies
• Insights on building trust, transparency, and capacity in nascent nature markets

In this episode, we explore the cutting-edge of conservation finance with Kevin Webb and Tom Quigley, co-founders of Superorganism - a trailblazing venture capital firm on a mission to catalyze the nature tech revolution. We dive into their unique approach to funding startups that are harnessing the power of technology to tackle the biodiversity crisis head-on. From harnessing mycorrhizal fungi networks to boost timber growth to turning invasive species into sustainable leather, the innovations in Superorganism's portfolio will give you a glimpse into the future of nature-positive business. Tune in for an inspiring and eye-opening discussion on the role of venture capital in saving Earth's precious biodiversity. For more insights on the growing nature tech ecosystem, be sure to sign up for Superorganism's monthly substack newsletter.