Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
This master's prepares you to lead the sustainable transformation of the ocean economy. You will learn to identify investment opportunities in key sectors such as marine energy, sustainable fisheries, aquaculture and coastal tourism, and you will build a solid foundation in environmental economics, sustainable finance and ocean governance to evaluate and structure projects with a positive impact on the marine environment.
Prior knowledge check
These are the skills this program gives you. Tick the ones you already master and we will tell you which part of the syllabus is for you.
You are starting from scratch in this subject. The program is designed precisely for that.
What is the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance?
This master's prepares you to evaluate, structure and fund projects in the blue economy. You will learn how traditional and emerging ocean industries are governed under UNCLOS, the BBNJ Agreement and marine spatial planning, how marine natural capital and ecosystem services are valued and accounted for, how blue carbon credits are certified and traded, how ESG criteria, sustainability taxonomies and TNFD disclosure shape investment, and how blue bonds, blended finance, debt-for-nature swaps, parametric insurance and project finance for offshore wind, green ports and aquaculture turn sustainable ideas into bankable projects.
What sets this master's apart: a combined view of ocean economics, sustainable finance and governance; practical valuation of marine natural capital with tools such as InVEST and ARIES; in-depth coverage of blue carbon markets and nature-based solutions; full treatment of blue financial instruments, from blue bonds to blended finance; a focus on climate risk, marine insurance and coastal resilience; and an integrative project in which you design and structure the financing of a real blue economy project.
Program highlights
- Ocean economics: traditional and emerging blue economy sectors and their governance.
- Natural capital: valuation of marine ecosystem services and SEEA accounting.
- Blue carbon: certification, MRV and voluntary and regulated carbon markets.
- Sustainable finance: ESG criteria, taxonomies, TNFD and greenwashing rules.
- Blue instruments: blue bonds, blended finance, impact capital and debt-for-nature swaps.
- Integrative project: financial structuring of a real blue economy project.
Syllabus of the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
11 modules. Select a module to see its content.
Foundations of the blue economy, ocean governance and sustainable development
- 1.1. Evolution of the blue economy concept: from Gunter Pauli to SDG 14
- 1.2. Traditional marine industries: fishing, shipping, coastal tourism and offshore hydrocarbons
- 1.3. Emerging sectors: marine renewables, blue biotechnology, sustainable mining and desalination
- 1.4. International ocean governance: UNCLOS and the BBNJ Agreement
- 1.5. Marine spatial planning and resolving conflicts between uses
- 1.6. The UN Decade of Ocean Science and global targets for 2030 and 2050
- 1.7. Circular economy in coastal and maritime value chains
- 1.8. Ecological and carbon footprint of ocean infrastructure
- 1.9. Multilateral organizations and development banks: World Bank, IDB and EIB
- 1.10. Macroeconomic trends and the geopolitics of strategic marine resources
Valuation of marine natural capital and ecosystem services
- 2.1. Marine natural capital and provisioning, regulating and cultural services
- 2.2. Direct valuation methods: market prices, restoration and avoided costs
- 2.3. Revealed preference methods: travel cost and hedonic pricing
- 2.4. Stated preference methods: contingent valuation and choice experiments
- 2.5. Natural capital accounting: the SEEA EA framework
- 2.6. Valuing mangroves, seagrass meadows and coastal wetlands
- 2.7. Socio-economic impact of biodiversity loss and coral reef degradation
- 2.8. Valuation software and models: InVEST and ARIES
- 2.9. Integrating environmental value into national accounts and blue GDP
- 2.10. Case studies: valuing marine protected areas to attract capital
Blue carbon markets and nature-based solutions
- 3.1. The science of blue carbon: capture, storage and long-term sequestration
- 3.2. International certification standards: Verra VCS and Gold Standard
- 3.3. Measurement, reporting and verification of carbon stocks
- 3.4. Generating blue carbon credits in the voluntary market
- 3.5. Blue carbon in regulated markets and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement
- 3.6. Nature-based solutions for coastal protection
- 3.7. Financing the restoration of mangroves, salt marshes and reefs through carbon credits
- 3.8. Payment for ecosystem services contracts
- 3.9. Social safeguards, community rights and benefit sharing
- 3.10. Biological risks, permanence, leakage and reversals
Sustainable financial markets, ESG criteria and the blue taxonomy
- 4.1. Foundations of sustainable finance applied to the marine environment
- 4.2. ESG criteria in the evaluation of maritime assets and investments
- 4.3. The EU sustainable taxonomy and global classifications of blue activities
- 4.4. UNEP FI Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles
- 4.5. Disclosure of nature-related and climate-related financial risk: TNFD and TCFD
- 4.6. Stranded asset risk in shipping and hydrocarbons
- 4.7. ESG ratings and sustainability audits for ocean companies
- 4.8. The role of commercial and multilateral banks in sustainability-linked lending
- 4.9. Regulation against greenwashing and transparency in blue investment products
- 4.10. Comparative analysis of emerging taxonomies in Latin America, Asia and Europe
Blue financial instruments: bonds, impact capital and blended finance
- 5.1. Blue bonds: ICMA principles, legal structure and reference frameworks
- 5.2. Sustainability-linked bonds with marine KPIs
- 5.3. Venture capital and accelerators specializing in BlueTech
- 5.4. Private equity for the transition of mature marine sectors
- 5.5. Blended finance: mobilizing private capital with public and philanthropic funds
- 5.6. Debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps
- 5.7. Sustainability-linked loans for shipping fleets
- 5.8. Microfinance for small-scale fishing and aquaculture communities
- 5.9. Grants, multilateral funds such as GEF and GCF and technical assistance facilities
- 5.10. Case studies of sovereign and corporate blue bond issues
Climate risk management, marine insurance and coastal resilience
- 6.1. Climate change impacts on the marine economy: sea level rise, acidification and warming
- 6.2. Catastrophe risk modeling for ports and coastal developments
- 6.3. Index-based parametric insurance for coral reefs and natural barriers
- 6.4. Evolution of P&I and hull and machinery insurance in the face of green technologies
- 6.5. Business interruption cover for extreme climate events
- 6.6. Risk transfer and financial resilience for vulnerable coastal communities
- 6.7. Financing coastal adaptation: breakwaters, soft protection and resilient ports
- 6.8. Credit risk linked to the energy transition in shipping and industrial fishing
- 6.9. Satellite data and data science in marine underwriting and claims
- 6.10. Public-private partnerships for marine emergency reserve funds
Financing marine renewable energy and green port infrastructure
- 7.1. Financial analysis of fixed and floating offshore wind: LCOE, CAPEX and OPEX
- 7.2. Project finance for offshore wind, tidal and wave energy
- 7.3. Corporate PPAs and public auctions for marine energy
- 7.4. Financing alternative fuels for shipping: ammonia, methanol and hydrogen
- 7.5. Financing ship electrification, wind-assisted propulsion and energy efficiency
- 7.6. Ports as green energy hubs: clean fuel bunkering and shore power
- 7.7. Sustainable shipyard modernization and safe ship recycling
- 7.8. Environmental and financial assessment of subsea grids and interconnectors
- 7.9. Tax incentives, subsidies and tariff support for clean marine technologies
- 7.10. Bankability and risk mitigation in emerging ocean energy technologies
Sustainable aquaculture, blue biotechnology and marine value chains
- 8.1. Global seafood market trends: demand, MSC and ASC certification and digital traceability
- 8.2. Investment models for offshore precision aquaculture and RAS
- 8.3. Financing regenerative aquaculture: seaweed, bivalves and IMTA
- 8.4. Business and venture opportunities in blue biotechnology
- 8.5. Value chains free from IUU fishing
- 8.6. Sustainable aquaculture feeds: insect meal and microalgae
- 8.7. Marine cold chain logistics and IoT tracking
- 8.8. Circular economy in seafood processing: by-products and marine bioplastics
- 8.9. Profitability analysis of fishing fleet conversion
- 8.10. Investment in shared infrastructure for marine innovation clusters
Project formulation, bankable business models and cost-benefit analysis
- 9.1. Structuring blue economy investment projects: logical framework and PMI methods
- 9.2. Sustainable business model canvas for marine ventures
- 9.3. Extended cost-benefit analysis with environmental and social externalities
- 9.4. Sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo simulation and financial stress tests
- 9.5. Financial modeling in Excel and Python for coastal and conservation projects
- 9.6. Preparing the investment memorandum for international investors
- 9.7. Exit strategies for impact funds
- 9.8. Green public procurement and concessions in the maritime public domain
- 9.9. Negotiating term sheets, project governance and minority protection
- 9.10. Impact monitoring: IRIS+ metrics, SDG contribution and investor reporting
Integrative project: design and financial structuring of a blue economy project
- 10.1. Selecting the business opportunity or conservation project
- 10.2. Regulatory, spatial planning and stakeholder diagnosis
- 10.3. Assessing the natural capital involved and quantifying ecosystem services or impacts
- 10.4. Technical strategy, operating model and implementation plan
- 10.5. Applying the relevant blue taxonomy and ESG compliance framework
- 10.6. Full financial model: cash flow projections, IRR, NPV and payback
- 10.7. Choosing the optimal financing structure
- 10.8. Climate, operational and environmental risk management plan
- 10.9. Investment dossier: pitch deck and investment memorandum
- 10.10. Oral presentation and defense before a panel of sustainable finance experts
Final Project
- 11.1. Choosing the topic and defining the research problem
- 11.2. Objectives, hypotheses and scope
- 11.3. Review of the state of the art and specialist literature
- 11.4. Analysis of the applicable regulatory and technical framework
- 11.5. Methodology and work plan
- 11.6. Data collection, processing and validation
- 11.7. Technical development and analysis of results
- 11.8. Discussion, conclusions and future lines of work
- 11.9. Writing the final report to academic standards
- 11.10. Presentation and defense before the assessment panel
Duration and format of the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
It is 1,500 hours. Tell us how many you can study each week and we will tell you when you will really finish.
This is the pace at which most students finish. It fits well with the installment plan.
Academic leadership and faculty
The Navalis teaching team: working professionals who teach and supervise the programs.
Dr. Marina AlcoverAcademic Director and Head of Quality Assurance
Eng. Diego CifuentesSenior Lecturer in Naval Welding and Non-Destructive Testing; Head of QA/QC for Welded Joints
Capt. Javier Abaroa (MCA)Senior Lecturer in Ship Handling, Electronic Navigation (ECDIS/Radar/ARPA) and GMDSS; STCW Compliance and Bridge Resource Management Coordinator
Dr. Pau FerrerSenior Lecturer in Naval Architecture and Simulation; Director of the Hydrodynamics and CFD Laboratory
Dr. Nuria LlobregatSenior Lecturer in Marine Meteorology, SAR and Operational Safety; Navigation Risk Management Coordinator
Eng. Javier BañulsSenior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Automation and ETO Engineering; Electronic Integration and Engine Alarms Coordinator
Eng. Sofía MarquinaSenior Lecturer in Materials, Composites and Corrosion Protection; Coordinator of the Advanced Paints and Coatings Line
Eng. Tomás RieraSenior Lecturer in Propulsion, Alternative Energy and Hybrid Systems; Energy Performance and Vibration CoordinatorObjectives of the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
Career opportunities after the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
Questions about the Master's in Blue Economy and Marine Finance
The sustainable management of marine resources and the development of the ocean economy from a financial perspective.
It helps but is not essential. The program builds the economic and financial foundations, and professionals from science, engineering or law are welcome.
Yes. You build financial models in spreadsheets and Python, with cash flow projections, IRR, NPV, sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation.
Yes. Dedicated modules cover blue bonds, sustainability-linked instruments, blended finance and the certification and trading of blue carbon credits.
Yes. A full module deals with catastrophe risk modeling, parametric insurance, marine insurance and coastal resilience.
In the integrative project you design and structure the financing of a real blue economy project; the Final Project is an individual piece of applied research presented and defended at the end.
Fully online, through a virtual campus available 24/7, with live sessions that are recorded and tutorials with the teaching staff.
The master's comprises 1,500 hours of study across 11 modules of about 136 hours each and ends with the Final Project. You can progress at your own pace within the schedule set when you enroll.
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Admission process
No waiting for a call back. If your documents are in order, you can enroll in the same session.
- Profile: aimed at maritime and fishing professionals leading sustainable innovation, economists and finance professionals interested in blue economy investment, policy officers and regulators, entrepreneurs with ocean projects who need funding, and graduates in economics, environmental sciences, engineering or law. A degree in economics, business, environmental sciences, engineering or a related field, or experience in the maritime sector or finance, is recommended.
- Language: sufficient command of English to follow the classes and the technical documentation.
- Technical resources: a computer with a stable internet connection, a camera and microphone, spreadsheet software for financial modeling and an up-to-date browser.
- Admission: online application, review of your profile and a short interview with the academic team.
- 01ApplicationYour details, background and documents.
- 02Instant reviewWe check that everything is complete and in order.
- 03EnrollmentChoose full payment or instalments and reserve your place.
Admission is provisional until the committee validates the documents provided. If you do not meet the requirements, the full amount is refunded.
Ask us before you enroll
Leave your details and admissions will write to you to answer any questions. If you are already sure, you can apply and pay in the same session.