Philanthropy can be a strategic catalyst that drives institutional investment in ocean protection and economic development. The vastness of the ocean is a never-ending source of wonder, so too the sheer diversity of life within it. The scale of the challenges to ocean sustainability are similarly hard to grasp, as indeed is the level of investment needed to protect and support its inhabitants and dependents. As pollution, over-exploitation and acidification from climate change threaten ocean health and marine biodiversity, greater conservation efforts are urgently required. Just US$1.2 billion per year is being channeled into ocean protection at present, well below the US$15.8 billion needed annually to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) target to conserve 30% of land and sea area by 2030 (30x30). Further, the World Economic Forum has estimated that US$175 billion is needed to meet the objectives of UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Below Water – every year to 2030, a step change from the US$10 billion invested between 2015 and 2019. The funds needed to create a fully sustainable ocean economy are reckoned by some to top US$550 billion annually. Amongst such spiraling sums, one migh...