Prince Charles congratulates Seychelles on its Blue Bond |30 November 2015

Prince Charles has congratulated the government of Seychelles on its Blue Bond initiative which aims to boost the country’s fishing sector.

The Prince of Wales described the project as proof that “economic growth and ecological resilience really do go hand in hand”.

He was speaking during the concluding session of the Commonwealth Business Forum organised before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) taking place in Malta.

“I was absolutely delighted to hear that the government of Seychelles has announced its intention to issue a so-called Blue Bond to shore up their vital fishing sector, such that it may continue to provide employment, economic growth and food security into the future.  The reason this is such a step forward is that it shows, in my view, that economic growth and ecological resilience really do go hand in hand – indeed, that the one is predicated on the other,” said Prince Charles.

He offered his heartfelt congratulations to the government of Seychelles and, in particular, to President James Michel, and the Minister for Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy Jean-Paul Adam for their leadership and willingness to take on these fiendishly complex issues and meet them head on.
 
Chairing a high-level panel on ‘Small island developing states and the post-2015 development finance agenda’ in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in August this year, Minister Adam said the ‘Blue Bonds’ will mobilise financing for Seychelles fisheries management plan and it is one of two financing models the country is proposing to ease the restructuring of small island developing states’ (Sids) debt while simultaneously providing more affordable financing for Sids.

The other proposed mechanism is the Seychelles debt for adaptation swap.

The minister explained that the Blue Economy was an opportunity to diversify Sids’ economies and build new shared opportunities.

Organised in the margins of the Third Financing for Development (FfD3) conference, the panel brought together global partners and Sids representatives to discuss the specific financing challenges being faced by the small economies of island states.

In his speech in Malta, Prince Charles also proposed a new initiative to guarantee financing for small-scale environmental projects.

His vision for a Commonwealth Green Finance Facility sets out cost efficient and effective guarantees and credit enhancement for green projects that struggle to access finance. The programme will seek investment from sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.

“So much of the problem, as I understand it, when dealing with projects that aim to tackle some of the critical challenges we face worldwide, is that they are small and risky for investors. Finding ways to scale up and aggregate these developments is therefore a vital part of the solution,” he said.

Since the last CHOGM in Sri Lanka in 2013, Lord Marland and Justin Mundy, the director of The Prince's Charities' International Sustainability Unit (ISU), have been working incredibly hard to bring together a working group of governments to help support small-scale ‘green and blue’ private sector investment in the Commonwealth.  

Prince Charles has said he hopes this working group will reflect the Commonwealth's ambition and capability for Commonwealth countries to help each other on such a critical issue and that it will generate a Commonwealth Green Finance Facility to provide cost efficient and effective guarantees and credit enhancement for those projects that normally struggle to access finance.

“It should in time become an incubator for more Green and Blue Bonds and so help bring in the institutional investors, such as the pension funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds – much-needed players, in my view, if we are to bring about the kind of transformation that we so badly need,” said Prince Charles.

On February 13 this year, Mr Mundy paid a courtesy call on President Michel at State House and the meeting was a follow-up on the President’s last fruitful meeting with the Prince of Wales on the sidelines of the last CHOGM 2013, where besides other issues they also discussed the Blue Bonds initiative aimed at reinforcing marine related activities for sustainability purposes.

Addressing the delegates in Malta, the Prince of Wales noted that the world is presently facing an unprecedented number of challenges which have profound consequences on businesses.

He also praised the Business Forum for its strong outcomes, saying the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council announcement of the launch of the Commonwealth Sustainable Business Challenge will “provide for those essential ingredients to make sure that the Sustainable Development Goals, agreed in New York in September have meaning”.

The 10th Commonwealth Business Forum, which took place from November 24-26, brought together 1,300 business leaders from around 80 countries, including 21 heads of government. The conference aimed to create new investment opportunities and increase the involvement of the private sector to bring about sustainable economic growth.

The forum came days before the CHOGM where leaders will issue a joint statement on climate change that is expected to influence the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) outcome.