Coastal 8 was founded with the goal of helping Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and their coastal communities achieve their United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – hence “Coastal”. The number “8” has importance for several reasons. It is the atomic number for oxygen. It was also the number of the Apollo mission that took the iconic “Blue Marble” picture of our planet in all her blue glory. Apollo was also a part of a “moonshot” vision. Coastal 8 is working on a different moonshot; to help SIDS meet their SDG goals. The number 8 also represents circularity. A circular economy is critical to all sustainable development. Coastal 8 is holding itself accountable to the SDGs. We believe that SDG 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land) will lead to 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) in our SIDS partner countries. And finally, number 8 is the sail number of the three-time world speed sailing record holding boat “Arete” raced by the founder of Coastal 8.

Coastal 8 was founded with the goal of helping Small Island Developing States (SIDS) achieve their sustainable development goals. SIDS are often the nations most exposed to the impacts of climate change, and the least responsible for anthropogenic climate change. It was the recognition of the challenges SIDS face that motivated our organization to find ways to break down the logjams that hinder their progress. Despite having relatively larger requirements for assistance, SIDS receive disproportionately less support than larger countries striving to develop. In addition, the vast majority of international funding efforts are targeted at mitigating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, SIDS require immediate large-scale investment to adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts, build resiliency and work toward achieving critical sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Coastal 8 business model, as a resilience systems integration firm, combines the role of service provider with the hands-on role of a project manager/general contractor and, as appropriate, the role of investor. We collaborate with SIDS governments in a public- private partnership to identify a country-directed set of primary projects that have the best opportunity to deliver the critical sustainable development goals specific to each.

SIDS country’s situation. After jointly identifying, qualifying and prioritizing each country’s proposed project stack, Coastal 8 works with its partners to obtain the appropriate mix of concessionary capital, loans and equity capital required to launch all viable initiatives. The model includes an operating role for Coastal 8. While the specific structure is determined in consultation and negotiation with each island government, generally it envisions a jointly run island development company staffed by both Coastal 8 and government personnel that will serve as project managers and, as appropriate, operators of the underlying projects in selected areas such as agriculture, power generation, transportation, the restoration/preservation of the natural environment etc..

Toggle ConCoastal 8’s mandate is broader than a consultancy. By including roles of a cross-functional designer, program developer, adviser and manager, and potentially as a debt/equity investor, we partner for long term program deployment . We seek to address as many of the roadblocks that have delayed or prevented the significant progress required to address the SDG objectives of island countries over a 20 year horizon.tent

One of the most important distinctions between Coastal 8 and others currently involved in the development sector is our focus on working with our island partners to identify the projects most critical to their SDG goals. We don’t start, or end, at identifying only those projects with the highest economic returns. Rather, we seek to determine how many of the projects identified by our country partners can be made viable. Coastal 8 seeks to boost viability by selecting the most appropriate approaches, technologies, and contractors for each underlying project. By considering all of a country’s SDG goals and a range of potential projects portfolio we, in conjunction with our partners, can assess and balance competing needs for limited grants and other concessional agreements that are critical for many projects.  Working in this way can maximize the number of projects that can be initiated and accelerate the achievement of SDG objectives and sustainable return on investment goals.  A further important difference between Coastal 8 and existing developers is the central measurement and tracking of SDG objectives. A key element in the founding of Coastal 8 was the five years of due diligence jointly delivering the award-winning resiliency scorecard.  Recognizing that, while each Caribbean country had its unique priorities and challenges, there was a need for a common approach to define and measure assessments of SDG baseline levels and expected/achieved improvements.] The result was Coastal 8’s BGet© platform.  In contrast to many developers, Coastal 8 and its island partners will establish a baseline of planned measurement protocols and expected improvements in targeted SDG metrics. The tool will serve as a tracking and monitoring vehicle providing all participants – island governments, investors, monitors – the ability to measure and track achievement of targeted goals. Fundamentally the BGet©  platform allows an organization to achieve internal cross-functional alignment with external sector alignment and to reduced risk and delays.

Coastal 8 is employing a new approach to bridge the significant gap between, on the one side, the demonstrated need for financing of SIDS to reach their SDG goals as well as the stated commitments to SIDS made by donor countries etc. and, on the other side, the much smaller levels of capital actually flowing into SDG projects in SIDS. While there is no guarantee of success, our partner-focused, public private partnership, approach targets the areas identified by participants as the primary roadblocks limiting progress instead of funding projects as a mission driven progam. The UN has specifically cited “Limited fiscal space and institutional capacity to formulate a pipeline of bankable SDG investment projects” as a key challenge to more rapid financing flows. Coastal 8’s approach makes country directed project selection the central starting point. Together, we will strive to validate as many SDG projects as possible. The UN has also cited “Misaligned incentives and regulations, limited awareness, and difficulties in identifying, measuring and reporting on sustainable investments”, as well as a lock of fundable project proposal as impediments to private investment in SDGs. Having identified and prioritized SDG projects critical to each country’s plan, we will provide the measurement and reporting infrastructure demanded by investors via our BGet© platform. If appropriate, we will also advise on where potential changes to regulatory structures may be helpful to reduce or eliminate misalignments that inhibit investment flows.

For a formal definition we would refer you to the Wikipedia definition here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_economy

For a formal definition we would refer you to the Wikipedia definition here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_economy

The blue green economic transition is investing in natural assets and the build infrastructure where the blue and green economies merge.

According to a recent Bloomberg article $175 billion per year is need to achieve this SDG goal by 2030. Between 2015 and 2019, less than $10 billion in total was invested. SDG 14 is the least funded of all SDGs.