The Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE) at The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus has announced a Blue Finance and Ocean Innovation Side Event to be held during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2026.
According to Antigua News Room, the announcement was made on June 16 on the sidelines of the 11th Our Ocean Conference, during a partner updates segment of the Commonwealth Ocean Ministers Roundtable hosted by the government of Kenya and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Dr. Branson Belle, Executive Director of COBE, presented background on The UWI Five Islands Campus and COBE before outlining the plans for the side event.
The event will open with an exhibition of ocean conservation projects from local, regional, and international organisations. It will then transition into a discussion styled as a "beachside chat," moderated by Charles Goddard of Economist Impact and featuring CEOs and senior leaders in blue finance and ocean innovation. Heads of government are also scheduled to deliver addresses before the programme concludes with a reception.
The side event is being organised by COBE in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Ocean restoration and sustainable use remain priorities for the Commonwealth, whose member nations collectively hold jurisdiction over a third of the world's ocean and 45% of global coral reefs, and include 25 small island developing states. In 2024, Commonwealth countries adopted the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration, which calls for urgent action to restore and protect the ocean.
The side event aims to highlight the ocean's central role in sustaining livelihoods and economies, and to catalyse new financing for ocean innovation and conservation projects across the Commonwealth.
The UWI Five Islands was established in 2019 as the fifth campus of The University of the West Indies and is located in Antigua and Barbuda. The campus offers more than 45 degree programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels across four schools: the School of Humanities and Education, the School of Business and Management, the School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, and the School of Science, Computing and Artificial Intelligence. COBE sits within the campus as a dedicated centre for marine science research and sustainable ocean-based economic development.
