Good design isn’t limited to objects or buildings — it can reimagine entire systems. The Debt for Nature Coalition’s Bonds for Ocean Conservation shows how design thinking can transform the entrenched global challenge of sovereign debt into progressive solution for our oceans.
The linear model of debt sees developing nations locked in high-interest debt, reducing their capacity to address conservation and sustainability challenges. While marine ecosystems degrade, Debt for Nature Coalition have designed a financial mechanism, described as a Blue Bond, that restructures a country’s debt under more favourable terms in order to to channel the savings directly into long-term marine conservation, climate resilience, and biodiversity protection.
This impact-led model has already moved from concept to real-world success. In Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, the refinancing of national debt unlocked over USD 450 million for marine protection while delivering over USD 1 billion in fiscal relief. It enabled the creation of the 6-million-hectare Hermandad Marine Reserve and supported sustainable fisheries — a tangible example of systems design shaping both ecological and economic futures.
As a 2025 Earthshot Prize finalist, Bonds for Ocean Conservation proves that design-driven thinking can reinvent finance into a regenerative force for the planet.
