The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation have launched a targeted partnership to speed up ocean conservation efforts in Commonwealth countries across Asia and the Pacific, officials announced on Tuesday. The collaboration, delivered through the Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator, is explicitly designed to translate commitments from the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration — adopted unanimously at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa — into funded, community‑led action on the ground.
Commonwealth Secretary‑General Shirley Botchwey said the agreement will deepen support to member states and catalyse practical projects at a time when the stakes are rising for island and coastal communities. “One‑third of the world’s ocean under national jurisdiction lies within the Commonwealth,” Botchwey said, stressing that restoration, preservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal environments in Asia and the Pacific will have ripple effects across the organisation’s other regions. The partnership will bring together scientists, political leaders and civil society to convert those shared priorities into implementable initiatives.
Under the arrangement, the Blue Charter Incubator will offer grants of up to £50,000 to help develop early‑stage ocean conservation projects aligned with five priority areas: reducing marine pollution, ecosystem restoration, sustainable fisheries, advancing the blue economy and addressing the ocean‑climate nexus. The Prince Albert II Foundation will concentrate its support on projects in Asia and the Pacific, aiming to leverage initial grants to unlock further investment and scale promising solutions beyond initial pilot phases.
Romain Ciarlet, Vice‑Chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II Foundation, framed the collaboration as a vehicle to accelerate solutions through multi‑stakeholder partnerships. “By fostering collaboration and innovation among governments, partners and conservation leaders, this incubator plays a key role in advancing solutions that protect and restore marine ecosystems while ensuring a viable future for all,” Ciarlet said. He described the partnership as consistent with the Foundation’s mission to promote a regenerative transition to blue economies.
A central emphasis of the new funding window is participatory governance. Organisers said projects will be expected to place the voices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, youth and gender‑marginalised groups “at the heart of ocean governance,” and to build powerful on‑the‑ground partnerships between local communities, civil society organisations and Commonwealth governments. This focus aligns with regional calls in the Pacific for more inclusive, community‑led monitoring and finance for ocean stewardship that emerged during recent events such as Pacific Ocean Finance Week.
The incubator builds on previous rounds of Blue Charter grants that financed conservation work across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and the partners said they intend the new modality to be catalytic — combining grant support with technical assistance and investor engagement to mobilise larger funding streams. The next call for Incubator grants will open in the coming quarter, and will invite applications from Commonwealth governments collaborating with local and civil society partners.
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