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46 | THE BLUE ECONOMY AND FINANCE

Damian Payiatakis
Head of Sustainable & Impact Investing
at Barclays Private Bank.

How would you explain the concept of impact Could the pandemic be a driving force
investment? of sustainable impact investment?
Impact investment intentionally seeks opportuni- The pandemic was a turning point for the sustai-
ties which can generate financial returns, but also nable investment market. Firstly, investment flows
promote solutions to our pressing social and envi- and performance during this period allowed sustai-
ronmental problems. This sets it apart from other nable investment to undergo its first real-world test.
sustainable investment approaches, like ethical or We also saw customers change their way of thinking
responsible investment. about investment practices. Our study “Investing for
Global Impact” revealed that two thirds of families
Is the ocean the next big sector in sustainable now want to extend the risk assessment to include
finance? more environmental, social and governance fac-
It’s possible, but there’s a lack of visibility, and it’s li- tors. Finally, the study highlighted the systemic risks
kely that the ocean will continue to be underfinanced. which we face on a global level. We encourage our
Until now, the ocean economy has not attracted ma- customers to draw lessons from the pandemic and
jor capital like other sustainable finance areas. This make their portfolios more sustainable.
is partially explained by the fact that many opportu-
nities were created at an early stage, and at a small
scale. It has also not enjoyed the same visibility as
“green” investments.

But given that the ocean would be the world’s 7 th
biggest economy, and that it plays an essential role
in the climate and biodiversity, there are significant
market opportunities: renewable energies, fishing,
aquaculture, maritime transport, plastics, conserva-
tion, tourism... This market has the potential to grow
quickly, with little competition for early investors.