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Although plastics dominate the headlines, marine pollution is far more complex than just visible debris. It includes nutrients, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals and other contaminants that often go unnoticed but pose severe environmental risks. Most pollution does not originate directly from the ocean. Instead, it flows in from land-based sources such as agricultural run-off, inadequate wastewater systems and industrial or municipal waste streams.
This web of hidden pollutants makes marine pollution one of the most underestimated environmental threats of our time. Tackling it requires action from governments, international bodies and, critically, the private sector.
The private sector is both part of the problem and part of the solution. Businesses contribute significantly to ocean pollution through their operations and supply chains, yet many also recognise that long-term financial resilience depends on protecting natural capital. Some investors and corporations are taking meaningful steps to reduce their impact on ocean pollution, but this group remains relatively small.
Regulation can compel businesses to be more transparent about their impact on ocean pollution, but global standards are inconsistent, and nature-related disclosure is often voluntary. As a result, investors and consumers (both individuals and downstream supply-chain customers) can play a significant role in filling this gap and pressuring companies to address ocean pollution. Their financial influence can accelerate progress where regulation lags.
Founded by private equity investor Jeremy Coller, the FAIRR Initiative emerged from a recognition that the food and agriculture sector lacked transparency around its environmental performance. The sector exerts huge influence over climate, water and biodiversity, yet investors had little data to assess related risks.
Today, FAIRR represents more than 400 investor members with combined assets exceeding US$80trn. Its mission is to leverage capital markets to promote a more sustainable and equitable food system.
FAIRR conducts in-depth assessments of the world’s largest companies in the protein supply chain, providing members with research, analytical tools and datasets to integrate environmental risks into their investment decisions. The initiative highlights the materiality of critical issues, such as anti-microbial resistance, deforestation, waste and pollution, that pose both ecological and financial threats to global portfolios.
Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation,
has worked with experts from science, industry, policy, finance and the UN to develop solutions to address ocean pollution. A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution: Roadmap for Action offers a framework to catalyse collective action.
In response, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are proposing a multi-decade partnership as part of the UN Ocean Decade (2021–2030). Their vision: to build a strong evidence base, close data gaps and spur decisive public and private-sector action by 2050.
Realising this ambition will require engaging the private sector effectively. One model worth studying is FAIRR, a network that
has successfully mobilised global investors to address environmental risks in food
and agriculture.
One of FAIRR’s flagship tools is the Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index (PPI). The index evaluates 60 of the largest global meat, dairy and aquaculture companies, which collectively represent more than US$500bn in revenue across ten themes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Developed with input from investors, companies and experts, the PPI enables financial institutions to identify risks and opportunities within portfolio companies and their supply chains. Importantly, FAIRR contacts each company assessed to discuss their performance and ways to improve. In the last cycle, 38 out of 60 companies engaged directly with FAIRR.
Notably, the PPI consistently finds that “pollution to water” is the lowest-scoring metric, worse than antibiotics, deforestation or greenhouse gas emissions, with two-thirds of companies failing to manage water-related risks effectively. This underscores the urgent need for more decisive corporate action on water-related pollution, says Max Boucher CFA, head of nature programmes at FAIRR.
Source: FAIRR
Source: FAIRR
FAIRR assesses 120 global publicly listed food and agriculture companies (including the 60 constituents of the PPI), that collectively generate more than US$4trn in revenue, accounting for around 40% of the sector. These companies include or supply many of the world’s largest retailers, amplifying FAIRR’s influence. By catalysing change in this relatively small group, FAIRR aims to have an outsized impact. As Mr Boucher notes, these firms “touch millions of people who work on the ground.”
Benefits and learnings from the FAIRR model
“There is a significant gap in investors’ understanding of how land-based pollution affects the oceans… The more comfortable and confident people across industry and finance become with these issues, the easier it will be to connect them.”
— Max Boucher CFA, head of nature programmes, FAIRR
Source: FAIRR
Pollution “is definitely a material factor, and investors do recognise that,” says Mr Boucher. “What is slowing engagement is that it’s a very technical topic. It’s very, very difficult to understand how it all plays out across the value chain. How water, soil and air all come together, and things like the nitrogen cycle, your average accountant would not be very comfortable navigating without expert support. So that’s why [initiatives such as FAIRR that provide tailored education and support for investors] are really important.”
FAIRR’s experience proves that finance need not be a bystander in the fight against ocean pollution but can be one of the most powerful levers for change. By translating complex science into investor-relevant risks and opportunities, convening unlikely allies and connecting data directly to corporate accountability, FAIRR has shown how capital can accelerate environmental action.
If investors demand pollution-free oceans, companies will follow. The opportunity now is to replicate and scale this model, making ocean health a financial priority as well as an ecological one. The message is clear: when pollution threatens profits, investment becomes a form of protection.
Even with the pressing need to address ocean pollution, no investor network currently exists that is comparable to FAIRR in its dedication to this specific issue. Back to Blue’s A Global Ocean Free from the Harmful Impacts of Pollution: Roadmap for Action recommends that the proposed UN Ocean Decade Programme create a business and finance working group. This group would gather, inspire, and work alongside investor coalitions, including FAIRR. The lessons learned from FAIRR’s work could significantly guide this initiative in its efforts to encourage private-sector action against marine pollution:
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Back to Blue explores evidence-based approaches and solutions to the pressing issues faced by the ocean, to restoring ocean health and promoting sustainability. Sign up to our monthly Back to Blue newsletter to keep updated with the latest news, research and events from Back to Blue and Economist Impact.
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