The World Bank’s PROBLUE a global fund for healthy oceans

Last September, the World Bank Group announced on Wednesday the creation of PROBLUE, a new multi-donor trust fund that will support healthy and productive oceans by tackling marine pollution, managing fisheries and fostering the sustainable growth of coastal economies.

PROBLUE is a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), housed at the World Bank, that supports healthy and productive oceans. PROBLUE supports implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) and is fully aligned with the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and increasing the income and welfare of the poor in a sustainable way. PROBLUE is part of the World Bank’s overall Blue Economy program, which takes a multi-pronged, coordinated approach to ensuring the protection and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.

The World Bank’s active Blue Economy portfolio is around $3.7 billion, with a further $1.5 billion in the pipeline. Projects range from implementing large regional fisheries programs in Africa and the Pacific, to tackling all sources of marine pollution, and supporting coastal development around the world, with emphasis on addressing erosion and the other effects of climate change on marine and coastal resources.

PROBLUE focuses on four key themes:

  • the management of fisheries and aquaculture
  • the threats posed to ocean health by marine pollution, including litter and plastics
  • the sustainable development of key oceanic sectors such as tourism, maritime transport and off-shore renewable energy
  • building the capacity of governments to manage their marine and coastal resources in an integrated fashion to deliver more and long-lasting benefits to countries and communities.

So far, more than $100 million has been committed by donors.