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28 | STRENGTHENING OCEAN GOVERNANCE - UNOC 2025

GREAT BLUE WALL
Towards an Afro-Pacific

Blue Economy

The round-table event hosted by the Great Blue Wall initiative during
Monaco Ocean Week provided a unique platform to pave the way for

new Afro-Pacific partnerships for a regenerative blue economy.

Bringing together multi-sectoral experts from across How can the role of the ‘Tropical Majority’ and
the Afro-Pacific, this event laid the foundations for stakeholders from the Global South, who manage
impact-focused collaborations, as well as for projects vast ocean territories, be strengthened? How can
and new policies prioritising blue justice and the the transition from traditional blue economy models
regenerative blue economy. Held at Monaco Yacht to regenerative, equitable practices be fostered?
Club on 19 March 2024 with the aim of accelerating Moderated by Alexis Grosskopf, CEO and co-
procedures, the event showcased the insights behind founder of OceanHub Africa (the first pan-African
the Great Blue Wall initiative from both the African ocean impact incubator and accelerator in Africa),
continent and the Global South: the shared ambitions this event provided a platform for fostering extensive
regarding conserving critical blue ecosystems, Afro-Pacific cooperation and facilitating dialogue
transforming economies and empowering coastal and leadership in regenerative ocean management.
populations. Following a presentation of the Great Blue Wall
Initiative, two round-table sessions on the regenerative
blue economy centred on fisheries and on building a
framework for this new kind of economy.

PROFILE

The Great Blue Wall is a West Indian Ocean-born, African-driven response to the triple planetary
crisis. Launched in 2021, its aim is to unlock unprecedented nature-based recovery efforts by
implementing procedures for socio-ecological, economic and political resilience. Its objective is
to create a connected network of regenerative seascapes linked by a living ‘blue wall’ that acts
as a regional ecological corridor formed of conserved and restored critical blue ecosystems such
as mangroves, seagrasses and corals. This buffer against the impacts of climate change and
biodiversity loss will also shelter coastal communities who can become guardians of the ocean.