{"componentChunkName":"component---src-gatsby-entities-reflection-tsx","path":"/perspectives/commitments-to-collaborate-aligning-capital-for-ocean-innovation-cryosphere-resilience","result":{"data":{"platform":{"reflection":{"id":"6a4b922a87a6338fb88b42b5","slug":"commitments-to-collaborate-aligning-capital-for-ocean-innovation-cryosphere-resilience","path":"/perspectives/commitments-to-collaborate-aligning-capital-for-ocean-innovation-cryosphere-resilience","name":"Commitments to Collaborate: Aligning Capital for Ocean Innovation & Cryosphere Resilience","name_fr":null,"title":null,"title_fr":null,"pretitle":null,"pretitle_fr":null,"subtitle":null,"subtitle_fr":null,"published":"2026-07-06T11:31:54.72","edited":null,"content":{"plain":"Ideas from the Session\nA clear theme throughout the session was that while capital remains a major constraint, it is not the only one. The way capital is used, where it flows, and what it prioritises are equally important challenges. Too often, investment goes to what is familiar or easier to execute, rather than to areas where the impact could be greatest, often shaped by what the system currently values.\nThere was also a sense that the conversation needs to move beyond simply scaling what already exists. Many small solutions are already in place. The challenge is how to build on those and place bigger, more coordinated bets that can operate at the scale required. It is less about adding more isolated projects and more about connecting and expanding what is already working.\nIndustrial fishing was highlighted as a major and often overlooked pressure on ocean ecosystems. Alongside climate change, it plays a significant role in driving degradation. At the same time, the ocean was discussed as part of the solution, with the potential to contribute meaningfully to emissions reductions, even though that potential is still far from fully realised.\nAnother important idea was the need to rethink how we define value. Current systems focus heavily on financial returns, while natural, social, and human capital are often ignored. This creates a disconnect where activities that harm ecosystems can still appear economically attractive. Shifting this perspective is key to unlocking more sustainable approaches.\nInsights from the Breakout Discussions\nThe group discussions brought these themes into more concrete proposals.\nOne group focused on subsidies and behaviour. Harmful subsidies continue to support unsustainable practices and distort the system. Removing them was seen as a critical step. At the same time, participants emphasised investing in community-led efforts and education, recognising that long-term change depends as much on behaviour as it does on capital.\nAnother group looked at the broader economic model. Nature is still not properly valued, and this sits at the root of many challenges. Solutions included developing circular approaches, supporting non-extractive technologies, and improving policy frameworks. There was also a strong emphasis on bringing in a wider range of voices and expertise.\nA third group focused on governance at scale. Instead of approaching ocean protection one project at a time, they proposed working at a regional level, particularly when implementing existing agreements. Illegal and unreported fishing was highlighted as a major gap. Creating economic incentives for monitoring and enforcement could help build systems that sustain themselves over time.\nMeasurement came up as another key issue. While there is already a lot of data available, it is not being used effectively. Better systems for measuring environmental and social outcomes could help guide decision-making and align incentives. The challenge is less about collecting new data and more about turning existing information into action.\nFinally, there was a strong focus on the human side of the problem. Participants noted that we already know a lot about what needs to be done, yet progress remains slow. Bridging the gap between knowledge and action requires a more integrated approach, bringing together governance, science, and economic systems.\nReflections and Next Steps\nWhat stood out about this session was how it drew on the collective thinking of the room. Rather than relying on a few experts to provide answers, it created space for everyone to contribute their perspective. The session felt less like knowledge being shared from a few to many, and more like a collective effort where each participant added their piece.\nThere was a shared recognition that capital is still a major barrier, but not the only one. Even where funding exists, it does not always reach the areas where it could have the most impact. Addressing this requires not just more capital, but better alignment between incentives, systems, and long-term goals.\nAt the same time, participants highlighted the importance of balancing large, systemic shifts with smaller, practical steps. Big ideas are necessary, but they need to be supported by tangible examples that show what works in practice.\nThe session closed without a single answer, but with a clearer sense of direction. The ideas are already there. The challenge now is how to move from discussion to action, and how to do so at the scale that the ocean requires.\n","text":"# Ideas from the Session\nA clear theme throughout the session was that while capital remains a major constraint, it is not the only one. The way capital is used, where it flows, and what it prioritises are equally important challenges. Too often, investment goes to what is familiar or easier to execute, rather than to areas where the impact could be greatest, often shaped by what the system currently values.\n\nThere was also a sense that the conversation needs to move beyond simply scaling what already exists. Many small solutions are already in place. The challenge is how to build on those and place bigger, more coordinated bets that can operate at the scale required. It is less about adding more isolated projects and more about connecting and expanding what is already working.\n\nIndustrial fishing was highlighted as a major and often overlooked pressure on ocean ecosystems. Alongside climate change, it plays a significant role in driving degradation. At the same time, the ocean was discussed as part of the solution, with the potential to contribute meaningfully to emissions reductions, even though that potential is still far from fully realised.\n\nAnother important idea was the need to rethink how we define value. Current systems focus heavily on financial returns, while natural, social, and human capital are often ignored. This creates a disconnect where activities that harm ecosystems can still appear economically attractive. Shifting this perspective is key to unlocking more sustainable approaches.\n\n# Insights from the Breakout Discussions\nThe group discussions brought these themes into more concrete proposals.\n\nOne group focused on subsidies and behaviour. Harmful subsidies continue to support unsustainable practices and distort the system. Removing them was seen as a critical step. At the same time, participants emphasised investing in community-led efforts and education, recognising that long-term change depends as much on behaviour as it does on capital.\n\nAnother group looked at the broader economic model. Nature is still not properly valued, and this sits at the root of many challenges. Solutions included developing circular approaches, supporting non-extractive technologies, and improving policy frameworks. There was also a strong emphasis on bringing in a wider range of voices and expertise.\n\nA third group focused on governance at scale. Instead of approaching ocean protection one project at a time, they proposed working at a regional level, particularly when implementing existing agreements. Illegal and unreported fishing was highlighted as a major gap. Creating economic incentives for monitoring and enforcement could help build systems that sustain themselves over time.\n\nMeasurement came up as another key issue. While there is already a lot of data available, it is not being used effectively. Better systems for measuring environmental and social outcomes could help guide decision-making and align incentives. The challenge is less about collecting new data and more about turning existing information into action.\n\nFinally, there was a strong focus on the human side of the problem. Participants noted that we already know a lot about what needs to be done, yet progress remains slow. Bridging the gap between knowledge and action requires a more integrated approach, bringing together governance, science, and economic systems.\n\n# Reflections and Next Steps\nWhat stood out about this session was how it drew on the collective thinking of the room. Rather than relying on a few experts to provide answers, it created space for everyone to contribute their perspective. The session felt less like knowledge being shared from a few to many, and more like a collective effort where each participant added their piece.\n\nThere was a shared recognition that capital is still a major barrier, but not the only one. Even where funding exists, it does not always reach the areas where it could have the most impact. Addressing this requires not just more capital, but better alignment between incentives, systems, and long-term goals.\n\nAt the same time, participants highlighted the importance of balancing large, systemic shifts with smaller, practical steps. Big ideas are necessary, but they need to be supported by tangible examples that show what works in practice.\n\nThe session closed without a single answer, but with a clearer sense of direction. The ideas are already there. The challenge now is how to move from discussion to action, and how to do so at the scale that the ocean requires."},"content_fr":{"plain":"","text":""},"openGraph":{"title":null,"description":{"plain":"Rethinking Ocean Investment\nThe session was structured as an interactive workshop rather than a traditional panel. Participants were split into small groups and gathered around whiteboards, guided by one central question: What are we not doing that we should be doing if capital were no issue?\nEach person first wrote down their own ideas, thinking as broadly as possible. Some responses aimed high, imagining large systemic shifts, while others stayed closer to what could be implemented in the near term. That part came easily. The more difficult step was narrowing it down. Each group had to align on one idea they believed mattered most. This required compromise, debate, and prioritisation. In the final stage, all groups came back together to share their conclusions and open the discussion to the full room.\n"},"image":{"url2x":null,"thumbnails":{"card":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_480/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_960/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg"},"mainBanner":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_1440/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_2880/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg"}}}},"challenge":{"icon":{"id":"684a5a39e4b9dd66346a194a","name":"Systems Leadership","component":"SystemsLeadershipIcon"},"color":{"id":"65d5479fd5bcca2bcbc9db5c","name":"Light Brown","value":"#AA9B8C"},"id":"65d54797d5bcca2bcbc9d9a0","name":"Systems Leadership","slug":"systems-leadership","typeLabel":"Theme","badge":null,"path":"/themes/systems-leadership","updated":"2025-12-17T05:55:24.34","__typename":"Platform_Challenge","_schema":{"label":"Theme","pluralLabel":"Themes"},"openGraph":{"id":"openGraph_challenge/systems-leadership","title":"Systems Leadership","image":{"id":"image_villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1668989845/villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership.jpg","url2x":null,"thumbnails":{"id":"thumbnails-file_villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership","bubbleMedium":{"id":"thumbnails-bubble-medium-file_villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_96/v1668989845/villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_192/v1668989845/villars-institute/banner/theme-systems-leadership_image__theme-systems-leadership.jpg"}}}},"backgroundImage":{"id":"684a3f51681a755d2aebd4a6","image":{"id":"image_villars-institute/image-asset/systems-leadership-background_image__systems_leadership_dbz3yk","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1749696331/villars-institute/image-asset/systems-leadership-background_image__systems_leadership_dbz3yk.webp","url2x":null}}},"color":{"id":"65d5479fd5bcca2bcbc9db5c","name":"Light Brown","value":"#AA9B8C"},"typeLabel":"New View","intro":{"plain":"Rethinking Ocean Investment\nThe session was structured as an interactive workshop rather than a traditional panel. Participants were split into small groups and gathered around whiteboards, guided by one central question: What are we not doing that we should be doing if capital were no issue?\nEach person first wrote down their own ideas, thinking as broadly as possible. Some responses aimed high, imagining large systemic shifts, while others stayed closer to what could be implemented in the near term. That part came easily. The more difficult step was narrowing it down. Each group had to align on one idea they believed mattered most. This required compromise, debate, and prioritisation. In the final stage, all groups came back together to share their conclusions and open the discussion to the full room.\n","text":"# Rethinking Ocean Investment\nThe session was structured as an interactive workshop rather than a traditional panel. Participants were split into small groups and gathered around whiteboards, guided by one central question: What are we not doing that we should be doing if capital were no issue?\n\nEach person first wrote down their own ideas, thinking as broadly as possible. Some responses aimed high, imagining large systemic shifts, while others stayed closer to what could be implemented in the near term. That part came easily. The more difficult step was narrowing it down. Each group had to align on one idea they believed mattered most. This required compromise, debate, and prioritisation. In the final stage, all groups came back together to share their conclusions and open the discussion to the full room."},"intro_fr":{"plain":"","text":""},"outro":{"text":""},"outro_fr":{"text":""},"videos":[],"imageAssets":[],"organisations":[],"challenges":[{"id":"65d54797d5bcca2bcbc9d9a0","name":"Systems Leadership","slug":"systems-leadership","typeLabel":"Theme","badge":null,"path":"/themes/systems-leadership","updated":"2025-12-17T05:55:24.34","__typename":"Platform_Challenge","_schema":{"label":"Theme","pluralLabel":"Themes"},"icon":{"id":"684a5a39e4b9dd66346a194a","name":"Systems Leadership","component":"SystemsLeadershipIcon"},"color":{"id":"65d5479fd5bcca2bcbc9db5c","name":"Light Brown","value":"#AA9B8C"},"advertisements":[]}],"authors":[{"id":"65d547fdd5bcca2bcbc9e95d","name":"Jens Thomsen ","slug":"jens-thomsen","role":{"id":"rol_m02v21Sk7a2hKGj7","name":"Fellow"},"isMember":true,"bio":{"id":"65d547fdd5bcca2bcbc9e95d_bio","text":"","html":""},"organisation":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9e158","name":"Villars Institute"},"linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jens-christian-thomsen-749422201","photo":{"id":"image_villars-institute/person/jens-thomsen_photo__jens-thomsen_photo__OH7A2612_jzpcg3_xiarls","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1762506994/villars-institute/person/jens-thomsen_photo__jens-thomsen_photo__OH7A2612_jzpcg3_xiarls.jpg","url2x":null},"positions":[{"id":"65d547e2d5bcca2bcbc9e36f","primary":null,"positions":[{"id":"65d54818d5bcca2bcbc9f2ce","name":"Student","name_fr":null}],"organisation":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9dfec","name":"Gymnasium  Münchenstein"}},{"id":"69650775f9972d8b5c2bd80e","primary":true,"positions":[{"id":"69650773f9972d8b5c2bd80b","name":"2023 Villars Fellow","name_fr":null}],"organisation":{"id":"65d547d5d5bcca2bcbc9e158","name":"Villars Institute"}}]}],"people":[],"embeds":{"citations":[],"advertisements":[],"pages":[],"people":[],"imageAssets":[]},"banner":{"id":"6a4b91df87a6338fb88b42b1","name":"x","slug":"x-16","title":null,"description":{"text":""},"alternateText":null,"image":{"id":"image_villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg","url2x":null,"width":1200,"height":800,"thumbnails":{"id":"thumbnails-file_villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9","mainBanner":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_1440/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg","url2x":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/c_limit,w_2880/v1783337434/villars-institute/banner/x-16_image__55153645278_06ae0a2218_o_pz5qj9.jpg"}}}}}}},"pageContext":{"lang":{"id":"en","path":"","iso":"en","name":"English","label":"English"},"availableEntities":["Challenge","Page","Post","Reflection","Video","Podcast","Event"],"detailEntities":["Challenge","Page","Post","Reflection","Video"],"site":{"id":"683e8bff7c32c7910387b3d5","slug":"villars-review","name":"Villars Review","url":"https://villarsreview.org","title":null,"twitter":"https://twitter.com/VillarsIdeas","threads":null,"facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/villarsinstitute","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-villars-institute/","instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/villarsinstitute/","flickr":"https://www.flickr.com/people/195926075@N05/","tiktok":"https://www.tiktok.com/@villarsinstitute","youtube":null,"ownerName":"Villars Institute","recaptchaKey":"6Lc7c1crAAAAADUXSkkV_0zMMbEZ2qQMtw2gMAVM","googleSiteVerification":"GqkDXBfnLuGbzO9gmQM8_4BpSOVP4ZPITWqdFJibuww","platformName":"The Villars Institute Community Platform","platformUrl":"https://community.villarsinstitute.org","supportEmail":null,"contactEmail":null,"mainMenu":{"id":"6840fbbed6341c85fc259cdf","slug":"villars-review-navigation"},"linearMenu":null,"entityViews":[],"entityAppViews":[],"entityOnboardingViews":[],"gptLanguages":[],"gptQuestionTemplate":null,"advertisements":[{"id":"69776bc1105434dad4b0778e","name":"Global Learning Conference 2026 in Africa","slug":"global-learning-conference-2026-in-africa","url":"https://villarsinstitute.odoo.com/survey/2fccfe2d-c1af-4543-ba15-177fad8d41c7/4d411a4e-5a1c-42aa-869b-13e1eb26d5b5","__typename":"Platform_Advertisement","description":{"id":"69776bc1105434dad4b0778e_description","text":"The Global Learning Conference in Africa convenes leading educators, thought leaders, policy and decision makers, entrepreneurs and multi-generational learners to address these systemic issues, to reshape the future of learning, and to drive impact at scale. 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