The world's 5th largest economy under threat
Valentin Vigier, La Financière de l’Échiquier (LFDE) | March 2025
Every day, the equivalent of 500 containers of plastic waste are dumped in the Mediterranean, where the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Oceans will be held this summer. The development of a sustainable blue economy and the preservation of marine biodiversity will be at the heart of this summit organised in Nice and Monaco. Asset management has taken up these collective challenges, selecting and supporting companies that are developing innovative solutions to protect marine biodiversity in particular.
Threats to the Ocean
The Mediterranean is not alone: Plastics account for 85% of all marine waste at a global level[1]. The quantity of plastic waste dispersed in the water is estimated at almost 200 million tonnes[2] – enough to form a 7th continent. The breakdown of this pollution into microplastics means it is ever-present, with consequences for our health, too. According to a WWF study, we ingest almost 5 grams of plastic a week – the equivalent of a bank card2.
Solutions at the source
The response to this challenge will necessarily involve an agreement coordinating actions on a global scale. Companies and financial institutions, including LFDE and LBP AM, are taking part in coalitions such as the Business Call for a UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, to encourage governments to adopt a global treaty against plastic pollution. The 6th international negotiating session opens in Geneva in August.
As impact investors, we are convinced that businesses have a key role to play in developing solutions that protect our ecosystems. In particular, we work with companies that are positioned at source and that provide solutions to prevent waste from being mismanaged. One of these is to take action on the composition of packaging, to make it biodegradable, and on recycling. The Swiss group SIG, which designs sustainable food packaging solutions (it produced almost 57 billion packs in 2024), is currently the only player in the world that is able to replace aluminium foil in its packaging, thus making it more recyclable. This process reduces the pressure of waste on biodiversity, particularly marine biodiversity. Another pioneer is Tomra Systems, which designs and operates packaging recovery and recycling systems. The circular economy is at the heart of the business model of this Norwegian company, which offers solutions for the collection, sorting and recycling of waste, minerals and the agri-food industry. All these actions help to preserve biodiversity by reducing marine pollution.
5th largest economy in the world
If solutions exist, funding must be increased. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, dedicated to the protection of marine ecosystems, is currently the least funded of the United Nations’ 17 SDGs. Some of its objectives – particularly those of target 14.1, which aims to prevent and reduce marine pollution – are issues that have been taken up by asset managers and companies developing water treatment solutions, particularly for wastewater, or ballast water management solutions to limit invasive species. The OECD estimates the economic value of the oceans at USD 3,000 billion by 2030 – which would make them the world’s 5th largest economy. Preserving the oceans and developing a sustainable blue economy is a multi-faceted challenge for the future.