The Foundation signs statement on boosting Ocean related philanthropy
The statement, publicly released on 30 June, at the United Nations Conference on the Oceans, stems from broad reaching work and discussion jointly undertaken over the course of the last year by the Foundations Dialogue of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and that culminated in a meeting held in early June in Morocco.
Among other measures, the Bouknadel Statement proposes unifying efforts and long term commitments on behalf of the philanthropic sector within the objective of the global provision of data and scientific information, investment in ocean focused technology that fosters sustainable development and alongside involvement with governments, the private sector, financial institutions and United Nations entities in fostering innovation and the deployment of resources.
The document also details the importance of the role of the philanthropic community in enabling the catalysing, incubation, testing and acceleration of innovative technologies as well as exploring new means of financing for the Oceans, a role which the Gulbenkian Foundation has been playing in recent years through initiatives such as the start-up accelerator program Blue Bio Value and the high impact risk capital investment fund Mustard Seed Maze.
In addition to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the signatory foundations included the AXA Research Fund (France), Vliz (Belgium), the Bertarelli Foundation (Switzerland), the GrupoBoticário Foundation (Brazil), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (United States of America), the Great Coral Reef Foundation (Australia), the Living Oceans Foundation (Saudi Arabia), the Lenfest Ocean Program (United States of America), the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (United Kingdom), the Minderoo Foundation (Australia), the Oceano Azul Foundation (Portugal), the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (Monaco), REV Ocean (Norway), the Ocean Schmidt Institute (United States of America), the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection (Morocco) and the Ocean Foundation (United States of America).
The full statement is available below.