SDG14 Financing Landscape Scan

The report finds that SDG14 is the least funded of all Sustainable Development Goals, with a significant funding gap estimated at up to 70% in developing nations. While Official Development Assistance (ODA) and philanthropic data are relatively robust, private sector financing remains poorly understood and largely inaccessible. The document highlights a critical lack of disaggregated data regarding gender equity and a lack of standardized criteria for defining 'sustainability' in ocean economy projects. It argues for a shift from tracking financial inputs to an outcome-driven financing model to ensure investments reach marginalized communities and achieve specific conservation targets by 2030.

• SDG14 is the least funded of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A 2020 study estimated an annual requirement of $174.52 billion to implement the goal through 2030, yet total funding from 2015-2019 was just below $10 billion.
• There is a severe financing gap for SDG14 in developing nations, estimated at up to 70%, which is valued at $1.7 trillion.
• Current ocean finance tracking is fragmented, with a significant lack of transparency and traceability. Large-scale financing institutions often highlight a few specific projects while the rest of their disbursements remain unexplored.
• While ODA and philanthropic funding are reported, private sector contributions to SDG14 are few and poorly understood, partly due to a disconnect between investors and project developers.
• Gender-based analysis in ocean financing is largely missing. Despite the importance of women in ocean sectors, very few data platforms allow for gender-based analysis, and only $7.1 million in foundation giving was identified as supporting women and girls through SDG14.
• There is a lack of standardized criteria to define 'sustainability' for funded projects, which risks funding the expansion of the ocean economy rather than achieving SDG14 targets. For example, over 60% of ODA financing for maritime transport is considered not sustainable.
• The ocean economy is heavily dominated by offshore oil and gas, which accounted for approximately 65% of total revenues for the top 100 largest transnational corporations in the sector in 2018.
• The report recommends moving toward an outcome-driven financing model that tracks outputs rather than inputs to overcome challenges of transparency and optimization by 2030.

APA

World Economic Forum (2022). SDG14 Financing Landscape Scan. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tracking_Investment_in_and_Progress_Toward_SDG14.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. SDG14 Financing Landscape Scan. 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tracking_Investment_in_and_Progress_Toward_SDG14.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=SDG14 Financing Landscape Scan |date=June 2022 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tracking_Investment_in_and_Progress_Toward_SDG14.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2022sdg14, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{SDG14 Financing Landscape Scan}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tracking_Investment_in_and_Progress_Toward_SDG14.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }