Abu Dhabi, 23 September 2026: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s global bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, has published The Ocean Economy: Becoming the World’s Fifth-Largest Economy, an outcome paper setting out how stronger financial structures can help scale sustainable ocean solutions and support global growth and resilience.
The paper reflects the outcomes of a roundtable convened by FAB in collaboration with the World Economic Forum during London Climate Action Week. It examines the financial architecture needed to protect and restore the ocean and mobilise capital at scale. The initiative builds on FAB’s broader sustainable finance agenda and its focus on convening partners, supporting clients and advancing blue-finance market development.
The ocean economy has doubled in real terms over the past 25 years, rising from USD 1.3 trillion in gross value added in 1995 to USD 2.6 trillion in 2020. If considered a country, it would rank as the world’s fifth-largest economy. However, approximately USD 175 billion is needed annually to protect life below water under Sustainable Development Goal 14, underscoring the need for stronger project pipelines, clearer standards, better data and financing structures that can turn ocean priorities into investable transactions.
Key priorities highlighted in the paper include:
- Building investable opportunities: Strengthening project pipelines and developing repeatable financing models to help turn ocean priorities into bankable transactions.
- Supporting clients: Strengthening the role of financial institutions in helping clients identify ocean-related risks and opportunities and translate sustainability ambitions into measurable projects and financing needs.
- Mobilising capital at scale: Improving alignment between policymakers, businesses and financial institutions to develop scalable financing programmes and attract greater private capital.
- Advancing blue finance in the Middle East: Connecting the region’s strengths in global trade, energy transition, water security and coastal development with global capital, technical expertise and credible financing structures.
FAB’s focus on the sustainable ocean economy forms part of its broader sustainable and nature-related finance agenda. FAB has issued the first blue bond by a GCC financial institution, supporting water and wastewater infrastructure, and was the first institution in the MENA region to publish a disclosure aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). FAB also served as Principal and Official Banking Partner of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025, advancing dialogue on nature finance, biodiversity, water and the climate-nature nexus.
The paper sets out recommendations to help scale blue finance and develop bankable pipelines and scalable financing solutions. For more details, the full paper can be accessed here.