蓝色金融——释放蓝色经济的力量

在全球为COP29筹备之际，海洋的健康和可持续利用这一相对被忽视的领域将变得更加突出和重要。保护海洋生态系统需要大量投资，因此了解相关的气候风险对企业来说至关重要。

人们普遍认为，绿色金融和可持续金融是将经济去碳化和保护地球自然资源的努力货币化的工具。然而蓝色金融的概念鲜为人知。尽管从技术上讲，蓝色金融属于绿色和可持续金融的总体范畴，但这一子类也值得受到更多关注。

海洋覆盖了地球表面的70%，孕育了地球上95%的生命，吸收了93%的多余热量和30%的人类产生的二氧化碳。然而海洋正面临着前所未有的挑战，如过度捕捞、栖息地破坏、海洋污染和气候变化。近年来，人们越来越认识到海洋健康与减缓和适应气候变化之间的相互联系。“蓝色经济”一词及其在全球可持续发展努力中的角色已开始受到广泛关注。

蓝色经济与联合国可持续发展目标14（“水下生物[2]”）相关联，顾名思义，指的是“可持续利用海洋资源，促进经济增长、改善生计和海洋生态系统健康”（定义来源于世界银行）。蓝色金融的目标是保护和可持续利用我们的沿海和海洋资源。

上述列举的框架和指导文件对蓝色金融领域具有重要价值。作为最新的指导文件，《蓝色指南》是基于现有可持续金融框架的经验构建的，而不是取而代之。尽管《蓝色指南》侧重蓝色债券领域，但其同样为蓝色贷款领域提供了重要的明晰和指导。在构建蓝色贷款时，应将《蓝色指南》与《绿色贷款原则》《社会贷款原则》和《可持续发展挂钩贷款原则》以及相关指南结合运用。

《蓝色指南》提供了非详尽的指示性蓝色项目类别列表，其中包括：

这些类别与五个环境目标中的一个或多个目标相关：减缓气候变化、适应气候变化、保护自然资源、保护生物多样性以及预防和控制污染。

指南还提供了上述蓝色项目类别的除外活动、项目产出和影响指标的实例。有关除外活动的更多信息，请参阅联合国环境规划署金融倡议（UNEP FI）出版的《为可持续蓝色经济融资的建议排除范围》[10]。

与绿色金融产品类似，蓝色金融产品可能是募集资金用途产品，也可能是可持续发展挂钩的一般用途产品。

《蓝色指南》中列出的指示性蓝色项目类别可帮助借款人、债券发行人和融资人判断潜在项目是否属于合格的蓝色项目。如果募集资金用途的蓝色项目可能兼具绿色和社会效益，其分类可取决于项目的主要目标等因素。其他实务指南见国际资本市场协会（ICMA）2024年6月出版的《指导手册》[11]。

如果借款人/发行人没有任何项目符合使用收益的蓝色金融产品的资格标准，则可考虑可持续发展挂钩蓝色债券或蓝色贷款，将蓝色关键绩效指标（Blue KPIs）和可持续发展绩效目标纳入其整体可持续发展战略。选择蓝色关键绩效指标的示例可参见 ICMA[12]发布的《KPI 注册表》[13]。

如上所述，《蓝色金融指南》是对现有绿色和可持续融资产品的补充，而非替代。因此，在构建蓝色金融产品时，应继续遵循适用于绿色和可持续金融产品的核心内容，即蓝色债券/贷款：（i）收益的使用，（ii）项目评估和选择流程，（iii）收益的管理，以及（iv）报告；与可持续性挂钩的蓝色债券/贷款：（i）关键绩效指标的选择，（ii）可持续发展绩效目标的校准，（iii）债券/贷款的特点，（iv）报告，以及（v）核实。

统计数据显示，2023 年全球绿色金融市场价值超过4万亿美元，预计十年后将超过28万亿美元。[14]正如十年前的绿色金融，蓝色金融领域现在仍处于起步阶段。部分原因在于，在涉及海洋风险时，很难确定自然的真实成本，而且许多依赖海洋的国家并非主要经济体。

然而，研究表明，如果我们不采取行动，其影响和后果将比许多人想象的要严重得多，例如，8.4万亿美元以及占据全球上市公司66%的不同程度依赖海洋经济的公司将面临风险。[15]

虽然向可持续的蓝色经济转型需要公共和私营部门的共同努力，但我们预计这一新兴的蓝色金融市场将在未来数年内加速发展。

As the world prepares for the 29th Conference of the Parties （COP29）, a relatively overlooked area is set to increase in prominence and importance: the health and sustainable use of our oceans. Safeguarding the eco-systems of our seas will demand significant investments. It's critical for businesses to understand the associated climate risks.

Green and sustainable finance are widely understood as tools to help monetise efforts to decarbonise economies and preserve our planet’s natural resources. 

Less widely known is the concept of blue finance. While blue finance technically falls under the overarching space of green and sustainable finance, it is important to pay more attention to this sub-category. 

I. What exactly are the 'blue economy' and 'blue finance'?

Ocean covers 70% of the earth's surface, hosts 95% of the planet's life and absorbs 93% of the excess heat and 30% of human-generated carbon dioxide. It is facing unprecedented challenges, such as overfishing, habitat destruction, marine pollution and climate change. In recent years, people have increasingly recognised the interconnectedness between ocean health and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The term 'blue economy' and its role in global sustainability efforts have started gaining significant traction. 

Linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 （Life below Water）, blue economy, as the name suggests, refers to the "sustainable use of ocean resources to benefit economies, livelihoods and ocean ecosystem health" （World Bank definition）. Blue finance targets the conservation and sustainable use of our coastal and marine resources.

II. Current blue finance international frameworks and guidelines

III. Using the Blue Guide

The various guidelines provide significant value to the blue finance space. The Blue Guide, as the most recent guidelines, has been built upon experiences arising from existing sustainable finance frameworks, rather than replacing them. Although focused on the blue bond space, they provide equally important clarity and guidance to the blue loan space. When structuring a blue loan, the Blue Guide should be read in conjunction with the Green Loan Principles, Social Loan Principles, and the Sustainability Linked Loan Principles as well as related guidelines. 

The Blue Guide provides a non-exhaustive indicative list of blue project categories, including:

These categories correlate to one or more of the five environmental objectives: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, natural resource conservation, biodiversity conservation and pollution prevention and control. 

Examples are also provided in respect of excluded activities, project outputs and impact indicators for the above blue project categories. Additional information on excluded activities can also be found in the UNEP FI publication 'Recommended Exclusions for Financing a Sustainable Blue Economy'.

IV. What does a blue finance product look like / what types are there?

Similar to green finance instruments, blue finance products are either use of proceeds products or sustainability-linked general purpose products. 

The indicative blue project categories （listed above, as set out in the Blue Guide） can help borrowers, bond issuers and financiers to determine whether the contemplated projects constitute eligible blue projects. To the extent a use of proceeds blue project may have co-benefits from a green and social perspective, its classification can depend on, among others, the primary objective of the project. Additional practical guidance is in the Guidance Handbook published by ICMA in June 2024. 

If the borrower/issuer does not have any project that fit the eligibility criteria for a use of proceeds blue finance products, it can consider sustainability linked blue bond or blue loan that incorporate blue key performance indicators （Blue KPIs） and sustainability performance targets into its overall sustainability strategy. Illustrative examples for selection of Blue KIPs can be found in the Illustrative KIPs Registry published by ICMA. 

As mentioned above, blue finance guidance are in addition to, not in lieu of, the existing green and sustainable finance products. As such, the core components applicable to green and sustainable instruments shall continue to be followed when structuring a blue finance product, i.e. for blue bond/loan, （i） use of proceeds, （ii） process for project evaluation and selection, （iii） management of proceeds, and （iv） reporting; and for sustainability linked blue bond/loan, （i） selection of KPIs, （ii） calibration of SPTs, （iii） bond/loan characteristics, （iv） reporting, and （v） verification.

V. The tides to come

Statistics indicate that the global green finance market is valued over USD4 trillion in 2023 and expected to exceed USD28 trillion in ten years. The blue finance space is still in its infancy, much like green finance a decade ago. This is partly because of the difficulty in pricing the true cost of nature when it comes to ocean risks, and the fact that many ocean reliant countries are not major economies. 

However, studies have shown that if we continue with business as usual, the impact and consequence would be significantly more severe than what many people think, e.g. USD8.4 trillion will be at risk, and 66% of globally listed companies that depend on the ocean economy with various levels.

While it requires a joint effort by public and private sectors to transition to a sustainable blue economy, we do anticipate this emerging blue finance market will accelerate in the coming years.

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