Building investable natural capital markets for marine nature

Blue carbon, marine net gain, nutrient neutrality and biodiversity credits are where governments, regulators and private buyers are all working now. But markets only scale if buyers trust what they’re buying and sellers can deliver what they promise.

Making public and philanthropic money work harder

First-loss layers, guarantees, concessional capital and blended vehicles — what actually crowds money in, and why so many structures never reach close.

Getting finance to communities and the coast

The heart of the event. Capital accumulates at the top; the people who deliver recovery operate at a scale finance isn’t built to serve, in a marine space that’s contested and heavily consented.

Financing prevention, not just repair

The biggest lever for preventing harm isn’t new capital — it’s the conditions attached to capital and trade that already exist. Purchase orders, sourcing standards and disclosure rules often move practice faster than a fund or a regulator can.

Director (Environment and Sustainability),

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Adonai Herrera-Martínez is Director, Environment and Sustainability at the EBRD, where he leads work on environmental and social policy, nature finance, and the blue economy. He was previously Adviser to the EBRD President and worked at UNDP and CERN in Geneva. He holds an INSEAD MBA and a Cambridge PhD in Nuclear Engineering.

Professor of Law

TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland

Justine is a Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her area of expertise is legal dimensions of marine and coastal restoration, and she has led projects on regulatory reform funded by the Australian Research Council and National Environmental Science Program. Her work informed Australia’s first ‘blue carbon’ method, which allows some coastal restoration projects to attain carbon credits. She continues to work closely with governments, industry and NGOs on regulatory barriers to restoration.

Head of Communities & Data

Protected Areas Foundation

Kat is a biodiversity scientist, entrepreneur and expedition leader whose career has spanned many aspects of the links between people, nature, and economy, ultimately leading to a focus on the UK coastline. Her work with the PAF now focuses on supporting UK coastal communities who want to play an increasingly active role in local marine management.

Co-Founder Director

The Protected Areas Foundation (PAF)

Belinda is a blue economy consultant focused on securing more effective and inclusive marine protection as the cornerstone of a sustainable blue economy. In 2024 she co-founded The Protected Areas Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to supporting and scaling community managed marine protected areas, for the benefit of nature and people.

Commercial Director

Offshore Shellfish Ltd

Sarah has spent over 20 years in UK and international seafood, across fisheries, aquaculture, marketing and sustainability.

At Offshore Shellfish Ltd she has helped build the UK’s first large-scale offshore mussel farm, a site that doubles as a platform for marine biological research and is building the evidence base for sustainable aquaculture.

Restore Nature Delivery Manager

National Trust – Purbeck Estate

David has worked for 30 years as an ecologist in the UK and Spain, and since 2013 has led the National Trust’s nature recovery work across the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. Since 2020 he has chaired the Studland Bay Marine Partnership, building consensus across sectors to deliver seagrass restoration in Studland Bay.

Nature Opportunities & Development Director

The Crown Estate

Andreas joined the Crown Estate as Director for Nature Opportunities & Development, with responsibility for developing opportunities to protect and enhance natural capital now and into the future, including supporting the development of high-integrity natural capital markets.

Andreas joined the Crown Estate from the Civil Service where he held several roles working on green finance, advising on innovative finance and financial disclosures, and international climate finance. His prior experience includes climate finance consultancy and market analysis, particularly in the EU emissions trading scheme and Kyoto Protocol flexible mechanisms.

Head of ESG; Head of the Coastal Regeneration Taskforce

Davitt Jones Bould

Christopher heads up DJB’s Environmental, Social and Governance Group, and the firm’s Coastal Regeneration Taskforce. His work focuses primarily on coastal places, including regeneration, economic development, blue economy, natural capital and landscape/nature recovery projects. Born and raised in Torquay, Christopher is passionate about seeing coastal people and nature thriving at the coast.

UK TNFD and Transition Plan Lead

The Green Finance Institute

Valerie leads market engagement on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) in the UK for the GFI. She works closely with senior leadership of UK companies to build a strong business case for taking action on nature, from disclosure to nature transition planning and execution, and coordinates the TNFD’s UK Consultation Group. Valerie joins from the CANA Collective, where she was a contractor with a focus on natural capital accounting. Previously, she was a Director at Pollination, where she supported clients with nature risk assessments and strategy development, due diligence as part of carbon market transactions, and coalition-based policy advocacy for scaling marine natural capital markets. Prior to this, she was an Associate Program Officer at the Robertson Foundation, making strategic grants to address climate change, protect ocean health, and deliver landscape-scale restoration projects.

Director of Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystem Services & interim Director of Offshore Energy and Infrastructure

Crown Estate Scotland

Mike is substantive Director of Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystem Services and also interim Director of Offshore Energy and Infrastructure at Crown Estate Scotland. His responsibilities cover leasing of marine activities and developing and supporting approaches to enhance marine ecosystems.

His experience encompasses private and public sector commercial leadership roles. Prior to joining Crown Estate Scotland in 2024 Mike led the commercial arm of the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Director

First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute

Sudip Hazra is Director of the First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute, which publishes research on a variety of themes relevant to investors and businesses globally. Previously Director of ESG Research at US asset manager Invesco and Head of Sustainability Research at Kepler Cheuvreux in London and Paris he has worked to lead teams at the forefront of sustainable investing, covering regulatory changes such as the EU SFDR, global engagement practices, Net Zero implementation and broad ESG integration. The Institute’s work on Oceans with Chronos includes an in-depth report assessing the financial materiality of multiple themes across key sectors and a detailed stewardship guide. He has a BA from Oxford University and an MA from QMUL and was a student mentor at these universities.

Chief Executive Officer

Seabed User and Developer Group (SUDG)

Chief Investment Officer

Rebalance Earth

Eoin Murray is Chief Investment Officer at Rebalance Earth until the end of 2026, where he pioneers nature finance by treating ecosystems as business-critical infrastructure. With over 25 years of investment leadership experience, including CIO roles at Federated Hermes and Old Mutual, Eoin has consistently been at the forefront of financial innovation, from quantitative strategies to sustainable investing. Currently pursuing a PhD in Finance at Bayes Business School, he also served as Managing Director of the SEED Biocomplexity Index at ETH Zurich’s Crowther Lab, developing the world’s most comprehensive biodiversity measurement tools. Beyond finance, Eoin is Chair of Exmoor Search and Rescue Team and recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and King’s Coronation medals for his services to Mountain Rescue. At Rebalance Earth, he led the mission to deploy institutional capital, transforming degraded UK ecosystems into investible assets that deliver contracted returns top investors while building adaptation & resilience.

Freelancer & Lead Officer

LGA Coastal SIG

Beccy is the Lead Officer for the LGA Coastal SIG, supporting coastal local authorities on shared challenges and opportunities including funding, policy and coastal resilience. She also works as a freelance marine and coastal specialist delivering evidence‑based research, practical guidance and collaborative projects that strengthen coastal management and nature recovery.

Director of Conservation & Policy

Marine Conservation Society

Gareth Cunningham is Director of Conservation & Policy at the Marine Conservation Society, bringing nearly 20 years of marine conservation experience. Since joining in 2021, he has helped drive solutions to restore healthy UK seas, tackle the nature and climate crises, and support sustainable investment. In Wales, he leads the Coast and Seas Partnership Blue Finance Group and aided in the creation of the Marine Fund Cymru.

Professor of Marine Conservation

University of Plymouth 

Founder and CEO

Athena Blue

Kirsty Schneeberger MBE is Founder and CEO of Athena Blue, which
works to bridge the gap between finance and coastal and marine
restoration. She convened the UK Saltmarsh Finance Day with The Crown
Estate and UKCEH, and runs the Secretariat of the UK Blue Carbon
Forum.

Founder and CEO

Sea Ranger Service

Applied Scientist – Natural Capital Product Development

National Oceanography Centre

Gus Fordyce is an Applied Scientist at the National Oceanography Centre, where he works on the design and development of biodiversity and natural capital risk products that support investment in marine nature-based solutions for economic resilience.

Following his PhD in coral reef science and management, Gus worked at a spin-out from Oxford University, leading the development and application of geospatial products to measure biodiversity and climate impacts and risks in corporate supply chains. He has developed monitoring and evaluation strategies for complex landscape and seascape conservation projects, designed corporate roadmaps for biodiversity net gain, and contributed to executive education courses at Oxford University on integrating business and biodiversity. 

Gus leads the research and development of approaches to nature-related risk quantification and mitigation across both terrestrial and marine systems. This included applying climate and biodiversity forecasting models and developing qualitative scenarios exploring compounding and cascading risks to businesses. He joined the National Oceanography Centre to develop end-to-end services and products that help the marine industry assess, prioritise, quantify and act on risks to the blue economy arising from marine biodiversity loss. He also serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the Plan Vivo Foundation, supporting the ongoing development of their biodiversity credits approaches.

Head of Ocean Finance

Howell Marine Consulting

Beth Siddons is Head of Ocean Finance at Howell Marine Consulting, specialising in ocean finance, policy and governance. Her recent work includes strategic reviews of marine natural capital markets, finance for marine nature recovery, and international ocean and blue carbon finance. She is lead author of the Commonwealth Guide to Blue Bond Issuance and co-author of UNEP’s Sustainable Blue Economy Transition Framework.

Head of Ocean

CDP Foundation

Oliver is the head of CDP’s ocean programme. CDP runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure system, which helps companies, investors and governments to measure and report environmental risk and opportunities. Oliver’s work focuses on transparency for blue economy sectors & blue finance, food system reform and responsible supply chains.