A $14.6 billion-a-year shortfall in critical ocean protection is threatening ocean health, putting livelihoods at risk, and playing with the security of both food and global prosperity, a damning new report issued ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice has found.

Launched by a consortium of nature NGOs and funders, the Ocean Protection Gap report has revealed that under current efforts, just $1.2 billion flows into global ocean protection efforts each year. It’s just a fraction of the $15.8 billion that is needed to fully deliver on the world’s most ambitious conservation target – to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.

Experts say that investing this sum on an annual basis could unlock some $85 billion in annual returns and avoided costs by as early as 2050. They add that the current shortfall of $14.6 billion is just 0.5% of annual global defence budgets.

Alarmingly, progress on marine protection globally has been called out for being “too slow” and “at risk of stalling”. Only 8.6% of the ocean is reported as protected and just 2.7% is assessed and found to be protected ‘effectively’. 

The report – authored by Systemiq and produced in partnership with the Bloomberg Ocean Fund, SkyTruth, Marine Conservation Institute, Campaign for Nature, WWF International, and RISE UP in association with Together for the Ocean campaign – introduces a new framework to assess the global shortfall in ocean protection.

It breaks it into three component gaps: finance, ambition, and implementation.

It’s suggested that by protecting 30% of the ocean, we stand to unlock around $85 billion per year by 2050 in avoided costs and annual returns from just three benefits alone: preserving natural coastal defences, avoiding carbon emissions from seagrass loss, and restoring overexploited fisheries.

There is, right now, an urgent need for high income countries to deliver on their promise to supply $30 billion a year in international biodiversity finance to developing countries by 2030. Repurposing fishing subsidies from just ten countries could fully fund global ocean protection efforts, while proven financing tools such as blue bonds and debt-for-nature swaps could unlock $18 billion in new capital. 

“Protecting the ocean is no longer just an ecological imperative – it’s an economic one,’ said Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, which led on the finance gap analysis.

“For just $15.8 billion a year, we can protect one of our planet’s most valuable assets while avoiding costs and unlocking long-term results in the tens of billions.”

O’Donnell acknowledges that Official Development Assistance budgets – which represent government aid to support global development – are under significant pressure right now. The suggested approach would be for countries to prioritise spending on initiatives with clear benefits – such as investing in the ocean. 

“Investing in ocean protection offers a powerful opportunity to protect some of the most vulnerable communities in the world while also generating sustainable economic and social returns worldwide,” he said. 

In April 2025, the US government rolled-back fishing restrictions in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, a move that reduced global levels of fully and highly protected ocean area by 0.3% overnight.

Just two countries – Palau and the United Kingdom – have effectively protected more than 30% of their waters – albeit from the UK’s perspective, these are overwhelmingly located in remote, overseas territories. High seas protection is further behind this still, with only 1.5% of the area beyond national jurisdiction currently safeguarded. 

The BBNJ Agreement – commonly known as the High Seas Treaty – provides the world’s first legal framework to create Marine Protected Areas in the high seas. With 60 ratifications required for the Treaty to enter into force this year, the need for countries to move swiftly on it is critical.

“The Ocean Protection Gap report is a wake-up call,” said Pepe Clarke, Oceans Practice Leader at WWF International, which contributed to the analysis of the ambition gap. “We have the science, the tools, and a global agreement, but without bold political leadership and a rapid scaling of ambition, funding, and implementation, the promise of 30×30 will remain unfulfilled.

“Conserving 30% of our ocean by 2030 is not just a target – it’s a lifeline for communities, food security, biodiversity, and the global economy.”

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