Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) activates young people, develops and implements innovative solutions, and mobilizes an ocean workforce to restore the health of the ocean in our lifetime.
Since founded by Daniela Fernandez in 2014, SOA has built the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders and supported innovative startups, nonprofits, and grassroots campaigns dedicated to solving the greatest threats facing our planet.
Two years ago at the World Economic Forum, we shared our vision with the world, and Salesforce Chair and Co-CEO Marc Benioff challenged us to accelerate 100 solutions by 2021.
Today, SOA is proud to announce that as of 2021, we have more than doubled our initial goal: we have accelerated 222 startups, nonprofits, and grassroots initiatives all over the world, each dedicated to restoring and sustaining the health of our ocean.
The Ocean Solutions Accelerator helps entrepreneurs launch for-profit ocean solutions for a sustainable blue economy by providing funding, mentorship, and other critical resources to scale their ventures and amplify their impact.
The Ocean Leadership Program (OLP) holistically supports over 6,000 global participants with the resources and networks they need to build ocean-healing solutions and to reach their full potential as ocean leaders. The OLP awards Microgrants of up to $15,000 USD to outstanding youth leaders to execute and scale their projects, and provides 72 youth-led Hubs with leadership and programmatic support.
Together, these 222 solutions for ocean restoration have touched tens of thousands of lives, restored critical marine ecosystems worldwide, invented sustainable alternatives to plastics, pioneered cutting-edge technology to illuminate the mysteries of our deepest seas and much, much more.
Each startup, nonprofit, and grassroots initiative has focused its efforts across five key areas of ocean health impact.
Learn more, and explore all 222 solutions below.
IMPACT:
15,540 metric tons of CO2 reduced, avoided, or sequestered
The fight to address climate change cannot be separated from the drive to support solutions that address carbon removal and blue carbon ecosystem development. In 2020, 31.5 gigatons of carbon (CO2) were emitted globally, with 83% of the carbon cycle circulating through the ocean. Certain marine and coastal ecosystems—like tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadows—play a critical role in this cycle by sequestering and storing what’s then known as “blue carbon.”
These ecosystems are critical to climate change mitigation. Mangroves and salt marshes, for example, remove carbon from the atmosphere at a rate 10 times greater and store five times more carbon per acre than tropical forests.
IMPACT:
1,755 metric tons of solid waste removed, upcycled, or avoided
Each year, only 9% of plastic produced ends up recycled—which results in 10 million tons of plastic dumped into our oceans every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. These pollutants are responsible for choking marine life, destroying both marine and coastal ecosystems, and polluting our own food sources.
Today, the average person ingests over 70,000 microplastics each year (that’s 100 pieces over the course of a single meal). The solutions in this category work to reduce and eliminate items like single-use plastics. Their work in turn helps to build the circular economy, which promotes the extension of product lifecycles and aims to decrease solid waste and pollution.
IMPACT:
89,128 square meters of blue carbon ecosystems protected or restored
In addition to sustaining marine life and the communities that depend on it, coastal ecosystems account for approximately half of the total carbon sequestered in ocean sediments. These may include coral reefs, mangrove forests, kelp forests, wetlands, and seagrass beds. Together, they serve as nurseries for marine organisms and as critical areas of blue carbon capture.
However, many marine ecosystems are experiencing degradation and destruction by human activities, which not only leads to species depletion, but also releases the critically stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
Solutions in this category have monitored 150,000 kilometers of coastline for climate change adaptation planning, detected 67,000 whales to avoid marine collisions, produced 150+ ocean literacy reports and media projects, hosted 260 events with more than 30,000 youth participants, and much more.
More than 80% of our ocean is unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. In the United States, only 35% of the ocean and coastal waters have been mapped with modern methods. In order to inform policy decisions that ensure marine and coastal ecosystem sustainability—and to empower humans worldwide to take local action to save the ocean—we need reliable data sources, mapping, and consistent analysis.
Some projects in the category of ocean literacy, data, and research focus on data collection and analysis, while other initiatives are dedicated to fostering knowledge-sharing and creating local opportunities for action. All play critical roles in leveraging knowledge and technical skills to catalyze lasting ocean impact.
Every year, 30% of commercial fish stocks are overfished, while harmful fishing practices cause over 38 million tons of bycatch (the incidental capture of a non-target species). As a result, this institutionalized overfishing has contributed to a marked decrease in recorded marine species over the last 40 years.
Sustainable protein, fisheries, and aquaculture solutions address the challenge of sustainably feeding the world's growing human population without the continued exploitation of marine habitats and species.
SOA’s solutions in this area are varied, with many developing new, innovative systems of impact tracking. One Microgrant project is developing a supply chain around selling “gourmet” sea urchins in order to quell California’s invasive purple sea urchin population explosion. Another is piloting a CSA-style delivery service in the Philippines to support seasonal, sustainably caught seafood. Our Accelerator alumni are hard at work in this area as well, developing plant-based alternatives to seafood (think kelp burgers, kelp jerky, and cell-cultured tuna), net sensors to reduce bycatch, deepwater solar irrigation for seaweed farming, and more.
Microgrant
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Portugal
Pollution Reduction & the Circular Economy
Annalisa Sambolino
This project works to eliminate disposable plastic in local bars by offering a reusable container solution. Here we noticed that almost no reusable cups are proposed and the main bars have a lot of customers with a tremendous amount of plastic cups distributed and then discarded, especially on the weekend. We have designed reusable cups that art students will personalize with drawings of sea animals. Our Microgrant will help us provide the first cups to local bars, and fund an art show and public exhibition.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Malaysia
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Melissa Beata Martin
The project leverages epoxy resin art and youth workshops to help engage young people with the fundamental science of taxonomy, conservation, and ecology—all in alignment with the priorities of SOA and SDG 14. The project also aids experts by contributing to the establishment of conservation priorities of our Malaysian marine biological heritage.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Tonga
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Leonati Motuliki
This project led by the Mounu Ocean Academy contributes to reef monitoring and whale conservation through community education, participation, and volunteer training. A training course will be developed to teach volunteers how to conduct regular reef surveys. The data will inform citizen science initiatives such as Reef Check and Coral Watch.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Indonesia
Ecosystem Preservation & Restoration
Aditya Salim
In collaboration with the YPAC Southeast Asia Deep Sea Mining Coalition, this program raises awareness about Deep Sea Mining amongst high-level government officials in Indonesia. Informed by meetings with experts a policy brief containing DSM key action plans and will launch the brief through webinars and a campaign
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Indonesia
Blue Foods (Sustainable Protein, Fisheries & Aquaculture)
Nadea Nabilla Puteri
Coastal fishermen typically spend more than 50% of their income on fossil fuel, emitting 345kg carbon per year. This project is developing MantaOne, a zero-carbon electric engine that reduces emissions and costs.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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France
Ocean Data, Literacy & Research
Anne-Sophie Roux
The aim of the project is to produce awareness materials on social media for the public to get information on deep-seabed mining in Europe, but also to reach out to high-level European representatives and influencers. This project will also organize scientific discussions at the European level in order to push forward SOA's campaign & petition asking for a 10 year moratorium on deep-seabed mining.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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China
Blue Foods (Sustainable Protein, Fisheries & Aquaculture)
sikai wang
In response to erosion of salt marshes in the Yangtze Estuary caused by global climate change and human activities, this project has proposed ecological restoration measures to maintain the habitat diversity of estuarine wetlands, so as to provide support for sustainable fishery output.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Sri Lanka
Ecosystem Preservation & Restoration
Roshima Vithanage
The SOA Sri Lanka Hub used this grant to launch a coral nursery in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. After setting up the coral nursery, they set up an artificial coral reef with the partnership of Shangrila – Hotel, Hambanthota, Sri Lanka. After establishing the artificial coral reef, they aim to conduct further research involving policy makers in Sri Lanka to establish a marine protected area in the southern coastal belt. The grant also will be used to establish a school curriculum in Sri Lanka on ocean literacy and education.
LEARN MOREMicrogrant
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Indonesia
Pollution Reduction & the Circular Economy
Yuli Efriani
Seabolga's mission is to protect Sibolga from its growing plastic waste problem. Seabolga Goes to School 2020 educated children in Sibolga’s schools about marine debris and its impact on the ocean and on human life. This program included school workshops, a beach cleanup for all workshop participants, and a webinar talkshow about the SDG14.
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