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Can marine protected areas be profitable? Most ocean protection runs on government aid and philanthropic foundations. However, Jeremy McKane thinks the only way to make protection permanent is to make it pay for itself. He's the CEO of OCN.ai, and he's building the data infrastructure that lets investors see whether ocean assets are actually performing, turning ocean protection from a leap of faith into something you can actually invest in.
Jeremy’s bio:
Jeremy McKane is the founder and CEO of the Ocean Currency Network (OCN), where he combines over 30 years of tech experience with marine conservation. His career began in tech, and he built OCN.ai, a platform that monitors marine ecosystems and verifies blue carbon credits using real-time data updated every 30 minutes, a major leap from the traditional five-year reporting cycle. Described as a "Fitbit for the ocean," the platform helps unlock revenue through biodiversity and blue carbon credits, with partners including PwC, The Crown Estate UK, and Blue Green Future.
He's also an underwater photographer and installation artist and co-founded Ultramarine on Richard Branson's Necker Island, an initiative focused on protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:10 - Jeremy McKane’s mission at OCN.AI
00:02:10 - Technology as way of exporting value from oceans whilst preserving them
00:02:30 - What is a digital MRV platform and how it applies to ocean conservation
00:03:20 - What an healthy ocean and marine protection are worth to any individual
00:04:10 - Using the market forces as an answer to value the ocean without taking from it 00:06:30 - Better than ordinary carbon credits, with OCN technology tracking capabilities
00:07:10 - Developing Marine conservation areas as a parenting model: funding the development phase to pass the assets on the markets where they can self-sustain
00:08:10 - Misconceptions about carbon credits, learning from past mistakes to improve
00:09:30 - Pricing natural resources to bridge the language and understanding and language 00:10:50 - Working within the system rather than against the system
00:12:10 - Technology, AI, and spotting ocean anomalies before catastrophe
00:13:10 - Why risk assessment matters to ocean investors
00:15:10 - The British Virgin Islands pilot, capacity building, and a nature-based economy
Useful Links & Resources:
Jeremy McKane on LinkedIn
Jeremy McKane’s website
OCN.ai: Website
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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 edited by Nebojsa Lešević. Sarah Carpenter and Giulia Leanza are our research assistants. The show notes for this episode were produced by Cecilia Bombonato.
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