- Inaugural Pacific Ocean Finance Week
spotlights urgent global investment required for the
region’s seas and the need to coordinate efforts to align
funding with Pacific-led ocean
priorities. - The summit was
convened by the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner,
with support from Conservation International and the Bezos
Earth Fund
Suva, Fiji
(Friday, 6 March 2026) – Pacific leaders are
calling for stronger global investment in ocean
sustainability. More than 150 government, finance, and
philanthropic leaders gathered in Suva this week for Pacific
Ocean Finance Week, an event aimed at advancing funding and
coordination for sustainable ocean management.
The
gathering was convened by the Office of the Pacific Ocean
Commissioner in partnership with Conservation International,
Rare, and the Bezos Earth Fund, with support from the UK
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
It
marks one of the region’s largest coordinated efforts to
align international financing with Pacific-led ocean
priorities.
Pacific Ocean Commissioner Dr.
Filimon Manoni said, ‘For the Pacific, Ocean is
our home, our livelihoods, our supermarket, our futures fund
and endowment fund. For many of us in the region that is all
we have. The Ocean serves as the only and exclusive
source of life, of vitality of economic development fueling
our very national building aspirations. Pacific nations are
world leaders in solutions, innovation, and commitment to
safeguarding the ocean. Global partners must now match this
with meaningful investment. The course is charted; this is
the moment to act for our ocean and our
future.’
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
During the week, Dr. Manoni advanced the
establishment of the Pacific Ocean Finance Group, a new
regional mechanism to coordinate funding and guide
investment toward priority ocean action.
Dr.
Manoni emphasized that greater transparency and sharing of
ocean finance intelligence and data across the Pacific will
help identify gaps, strengthen partnerships, support
long-term planning and speed up delivery.
“The
Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner will support
Pacific Leaders in coordinating their commitments to the
ocean, including through capacity building that will help
countries access and secure finance,” said Dr.
Manoni.
The event brought together governments,
regional organisations, investors, and ocean experts to
exchange practical solutions and financing pathways tailored
to Pacific needs.
Mere Lakeba,
Interim Vice President of Conservation
International’s Pacific Program
said, “The Pacific is a global leader in
ocean management, but we need funding to match this
ambition. We also need to strengthen our systems behind
ocean finance, so that our institutional capacity and
resource coordination can feed to our growing pipeline of
ready-to-fund projects. This is vital to close the SDG 14
funding gap and deliver on existing commitments that bring
lasting benefits for people and nature across the
region.
Pacific Ocean Finance Week is helping make
that happen — building partnerships that channel resources
to communities, support marine protection, and turn regional
commitments like the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific
Continent into real results.”
During the week,
Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, the Government of
the United Kingdom and the Bezos Earth Fund convened
high-level dialogues and technical sessions to advance
country-led ocean finance solutions. Through its First Wave
grants under the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity
Initiative, the Bezos Earth Fund is supporting Pacific
governments to establish and sustainably finance large-scale
marine protection aligned with the 2050 Strategy for the
Blue Pacific Continent.
The sessions showcased
practical pathways to mobilise new resources, strengthen
livelihoods, and align philanthropic, bilateral and
multilateral partners behind durable, Pacific-designed ocean
protection frameworks befitting the region’s role as
steward of the world’s largest blue
lung.
“Pacific leaders have charted an
ambitious course for ocean protection. Our role as the
funding community is to support that vision with the kind of
long-term, reliable financing that turns commitments into
lasting results,” said Nicola Thomson at the Bezos
Earth Fund. “We welcome opportunities like the
Pacific Ocean Finance Week to collaborate with Pacific
Regional Organizations, governments and other funders to
align philanthropic and public finance behind
Pacific-designed solutions that protect the world’s
largest blue lung while strengthening resilience and
livelihoods across the region.”
The event follows
the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding between the British High Commission in
Fiji, Conservation International, and the Office of the
Pacific Ocean Commissioner to deliver the
Sustainable Blue Pacific Initiative, a partnership designed
to strengthen marine governance, community-led monitoring,
and sustainable financing across the region. Supported
through the UK government’s Climate Action for a Resilient
Asia programme, the initiative will help Pacific countries
advance national ocean priorities and build long-term
regional readiness for high seas
protection.
