The World Benchmarking Alliance will begin its Ocean Benchmark in January 2025, evaluating 125 companies in key ocean sectors for their contribution toward halting and reversing nature loss in marine ecosystems. Some of the companies the organization has identified for benchmarking include A.P. Moller-Maersk, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark and Nike.
The WBA focuses its benchmarking methodology on 750 keystone companies representing $46 trillion in revenues (the SDG2000) with the greatest potential to positively or negatively impact the systems in which they operate. The SDG2000 span public, private and state-owned companies spread across 80 countries and directly employ more than 100 million people. A quarter are headquartered in developing, emerging or frontier markets. Of these, 125 have been chosen for the Ocean Benchmark.
The companies meet certain criteria: They dominate global production revenues and/or volumes within a particular sector; control globally relevant production and/or service provision segments; connect (eco)systems globally through subsidiaries and their supply chains; influence global governance processes and institutions; and have a global footprint, particularly in developing countries.
“Despite the numerous and complex challenges, ocean sustainability can become mainstream through the immediate and effective mobilisation of various stakeholders,” the report noted. “Within this framework, the private sector is increasingly acknowledged for its potential role in either hindering sustainable ocean-based development goals or taking the lead by altering current ocean use patterns and adopting corporate biosphere stewardship.”
WBA’s free, public benchmarks aim to demonstrate to companies and their stakeholders where they stand compared to peers and where they can improve. The organization said the information they provide offers businesses and stakeholders a roadmap showing where action is urgent and how sectors can positively leverage their influence. WBA said its benchmarks are informed by the best available science and build on existing norms, standards, frameworks and initiatives. They focus on seven systems: social, nature, digital, urban, food and agriculture, decarbonization and energy and financial.
The organization said Nature Benchmark results for 2022 and 2023 showed that corporate action to maintain and promote marine biodiversity lags behind that for land and freshwater resources. Its new Ocean Benchmark will be heavily weighted toward ecosystems and biodiversity as well as social goals and aims to:
- Encourage key ocean-impacting companies to improve their assessment and disclosure of marine impacts and dependencies
- Accelerate progress towards a nature-positive future by measuring how companies reduce their impact on marine ecosystems, and
- Help mainstream ocean considerations in corporate activity, including by embedding expectations into broader policy and global agendas that shape company behavior.
The organization is focused on the Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water, which focuses on reducing pollution and ocean acidification, protecting and restoring ecosystems, ending overfishing, increasing the economic benefit from marine resources and increasing science and technology for ocean health. The organization has provided a detailed explanation of how it intends to conduct benchmarking.
“A sustainable ocean economy (the desired blue economy) will only materialise when economic activities align with the capacity of oceans to remain healthy and resilient,” the report said. “Companies across all industries must recognise their dependency on healthy ocean ecosystems to sustain long-term operations. There is a need to bridge ocean sciences and business, supporting companies in mitigating their most significant pressures on the world’s seas and oceans.”
