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Today we dive into the finance side of the ocean economy because, like it or not, without capital, we won’t be able to make the impact and change we want to see in the world. Finance will be needed to make it happen.
To explore this difficult topic, I sat down with Dr Catherine Jadot, author of the book “How It Doesn’t End”. She’s a fantastic person to talk about this because she’s a marine biologist AND blue-economy finance specialist with over 20 years of experience working with organisations from governments to start-ups.
We didn’t just cover blue finance; we also looked at the psychology of action and the behavioural science behind influencing the positive change ocean founders and innovators want to see.
Catherine's Bio:
Dr Catherine Jadot is a marine biologist and blue economy finance specialist with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of climate resilience, ocean governance, and sustainable development. She advises governments and regional organisations in islands and coastal states on how to design and finance policies and projects that protect marine ecosystems while supporting inclusive growth. She currently leads blue economy and blue finance work for European and international institutions, including multi-country investment facilities, technical assistance programmes, and innovative financing mechanisms for coastal and island regions.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:03:15 - Catherine Jadot’s early career amidst the doom and gloom narrative
00:09:45 - The limits of project-level work and need for a bigger-picture approach
00:16:15 - Why governments and blue finance are necessary to the ocean economy
00:19:30 - Focusing on solutions and writing “How It Doesn’t End”
00:22:45 - The sources of a new, constructive perspective
00:29:15 - Social experiments to understand everyday climate behaviours
00:35:45 - The importance of people’s perceptions in changing cultural norms
00:37:45 - Finding impact investors to share the potential of the blue economy
00:42:15 - Behavioural science insights for ocean entrepreneurs
00:44:30 - Bankable vs investment-ready projects and mangrove finance examples
00:47:15 - Financial models: grants, blended finance, public–private partnerships
00:51:00 - Finding the right investors: what to do and what to avoid
00:55:45 - The Ocean Startup Blueprint, helping startups moving forward
00:59:30 - Learning to identify the impact investors and become investment-ready
01:02:00 - Closing reflections on the approach to ocean entrepreneurship
Useful Links & Resources:
Catherine Jadot’s book How It Doesn’t End (Amazon, Goodreads)
Catherine Jadot on LinkedIn and Instagram
The Ocean Startup blueprint
Get in touch with The Ocean Age's host Fed DeGobbi on LinkedIn, X or by emailing directly at fed@oceanage.co
The Ocean Age Podcast is produced by Charlotte Raffo and edited by Nebojsa Lešević. Sarah Carpenter and Giulia Leanza are our research assistants. The show notes for this episode were produced by Cecilia Bombonato.
Please send in your feedback: what do you want to hear more or less of? Any suggestions? Would love to hear what you think!
