Large enterprises are pivoting to ride the blue wave. A study commissioned by High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy on Ocean Solutions that Benefit People, Nature and the Economy published last year found that sustainable ocean investments could produce $15.5 trillion in net benefits by 2050 and build future-focused industries that generate six times more food and 40 times more renewable energy.

In the fisheries sector, reducing the 35 percent of seafood wasted in the value chain could have measurable environmental and economic benefits. M&C Asia, a major seafood importer in Hong Kong, China, holds two sustainability certifications for its work tracing each fish from dock to plate, allowing it to charge premium prices.

The Sustainable Seafood Fund, which aims to deliver fishery improvement projects to reduce fisheries investment risks, including pipeline development, repayment risks, market risks and execution risks, partners with corporate buyers using long-term purchase agreements to secure fish and repay investors through fees based on volume or value.

In solid waste management, 60 percent of global land-based marine plastic pollution comes from five countries in Asia. To enhance its margins, Indorama Ventures, a global manufacturer in polyethylene terephthalate, is expanding its plastic bottle recycling capacity and decreasing ocean waste. The environmental benefits earn the company blue ocean credentials, important for environmentally conscious investors.

The global green economy is worth nearly $8 trillion. But the new frontier is the blue economy, and it too is booming. Take clean energy for example. The terrestrial green energy market is vibrant but limited by land available for capacity expansion. Oceans can provide limitless supplies of renewable energy. Offshore wind alone could generate 23 times more power than current total global electricity consumption.

With global offshore wind costs plummeting by 32 percent in 2019 and expected to decrease further, the huge markets of Europe and China could attract $400 billion of investments over the next two decades. Even the shipping industry, once powered by fossil fuels, is catching on.