Quick Jump

Update as of 13 September, 2024

The Young Leaders in Ocean Governance Team is incredibly grateful ​to the Government of Bermuda for officially endorsing our ​programme. The endorsement from Bermuda’s Ministry of Home ​Affairs The Hon. Walter H. Roban, JP, MP, marks a significant ​milestone in the institutionalization of blue economy capacity building ​and training opportunities within Small Island Developing States ​(SIDS). Our team is dedicated to furthering our relationship with the ​Government of Bermuda througout our official launch of YLOG in the ​Summer of 2025.

Our goal is to ​develop the first ​scalable youth ​talent pipeline into ​the emerging Blue ​Economy & Law of ​the Seas.

Young Leaders in Ocean Governance is a 10-week cohort-based training ​program. We will match 10 fellows, ages 18-26, with full time internship ​opportunities within prominent legal and financial organizations in the Summer of ​2025. Our program will be piloted in Bermuda. Internships will be coupled with our ​proprietary curriculum which synthesizes foundational concepts of ocean finance ​and policy with real-time operations.

Young Leaders in ​Ocean Governance ​is an institutional ​commitment to the ​comprehensive ​future of ocean ​affairs.

YLOG is not just an educational program, but a bridge that will connect ​scientific, ​financial, legislative, and non-profit institutions in coastal ​communities and Small ​Island Developing States (SIDS). Through our innovative fellowship and curriculum ​​hybrid, we will not only bolster the workforce development strategies of ​SIDS but ​also empower youth by providing them with competency-​building and entry points ​for coastal communities, starting in ​Bermuda.

YLOG will provide 10 Bermudian fellows with hands-on shadowing ​opportunities within predominant Bermudian legal and financial ​organizations. Internships will have the two tracks, which will focus on:

YLOG’s proprietary curriculum, guided by the United ​Nations Environmental Programme’s Blue Finance ​Initiative modules, enables fellows to synthesize ​foundational ocean finance and policy concepts and apply ​prominent ocean concepts with real-world operations and ​scenarios. Our training program, coupled with our ​internship placements, aims to drive progress in ocean ​governance in Bermuda and globally by empowering the ​next generation through mentorship from current ocean ​leaders.

By directly engaging with ESG analysts, financial managers and industry professionals across ​disciplines, program fellows can learn how leading financial institutions are responding to the climate ​emergency by reconceiving investment priorities, product offerings, and strategies. Gaining firsthand ​exposure to sustainability reporting requirements, climate risk analytics, and capital mobilization ​strategies for climate change mitigation & adaptation are key experiences our fellows will benefit from.

Through our program, our interns will match real-world experience with international ocean ​financial mechanisms & case studies provided by our partners, including but not limited to:

• Debt-for-nature swaps
• Ecosystem services
• Marine bioprospecting
• Law and legal recourse
• Public & private financing
• Official Development ​Assistance (ODA)
• Revolving Loan Funds
• Conservation trust funds

• Carbon credit schemes
• Insurance mechanisms & ​first-loss capital
• Corporate social ​responsibility (CSR)
• Environmental, Social and ​Governance (ESG) ​investments
• Microfinance loans

The United Nations High Seas Treaty, established in ​2023, establishes the first comprehensive framework for ​regulating commercial activities in international waters. ​This global treaty impacts businesses and investors by ​mandating stricter environmental impact assessments and ​transparency in reporting nature-related risks. YLOG is ​developing a trained cohort of young professionals ​equipped to integrate these concepts for our partner ​institutions and shared sectors.

Young Leaders in Ocean Governance has ​been recognized at prominent UNFCCC ​Conferences and acknowledged as one of the ​first training programs designed for youth ​entering the fields of ocean affairs. As a case ​study, YLOG will be featured at COP29 in ​Baku, Azerbaijan.

Building on Bermuda's leadership in financial regulation, corporate governance and ​environmental protection, we emphasize the pivotal role of local regulatory and ​legislative bodies to ensure the program’s success in cultivating a new generation ​well-versed in the complexities of ocean governance from a legal perspective. We aim ​to immerse students in the implementation of marine statutory instruments by ​allowing students to shadow local legislative operations.

The Law of the Seas training enables students to comprehensively explore the ​multifaceted dimensions of the Law of the Seas—socially, politically, culturally, and ​economically. Led by experts in the law of the sea from both academia and practice, ​the program would be able to establish a solid working knowledge of the primary ​sources of the law of the sea, including treaties, customary law, and judicial practice, ​from protecting the marine environment and managing vulnerable species to ​regulating deep-sea activities and, crucially, honing skills and understanding of the ​enforcement of domestic and international law in the ocean while considering state ​obligations on life above and below water.

Utilizing data points published by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), a ​unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University, ​YLOG fellows will be taught to translate real-time carbon data into financial ​instruments such as Carbon Credits and Blue Bonds. Fellows will also have the ​opportunity to tour a research vessel and tasked to create a 10-week financial analysis ​on the financial resources required for conservation, including fuel costs, human ​capital, insurance, and maintenance. Fellows will participate in masterclass modules ​from our partner organizations, delving into ecosystem credits and experimenting with ​new environmental accounting measures. YLOG’s fellows will enter their career paths ​in legal and financial pathways with their hands-on knowledge and experience of ​what it takes to conduct conservation work, bridging it with the financial mechanisms ​to sustain them.

YLOG will determine success through qualitative data and pre and post program ​surveys. The data will include ocean literacy benchmarks through the International ​Ocean Literacy Survey (IOLS). After the completion of our pilot program, we aim to ​institutionalize our program within government economic development departments, ​offering job security and talent retention within the communities we serve.

“Small island developing States face a unique set of challenges in developing ​sustainable ocean-based economies due to their small land mass, limited ​resources and vulnerability to climate change, among others. Many such States ​grapple with regulatory barriers, lack of access to finance and technology, ​and infrastructure limitations to develop sustainable ocean-based economies. ​Capacity-building and innovative and effective partnerships are vital to ​strengthening support for small island developing States to address these ​challenges.”

U.N. Secretary General on the Preparatory process of the for the 2025 United Nations Conference (Paragraph 38)

Our Asks

Our Partners

Our partners are spearheading capacity building and ocean development on a global ​scale. By partnering with us, your organization will gain international visibility as the ​innovators who helped pilot a pipeline into the ocean governance sector. Additionally, by ​enabling fellows to shadow your climate financing operations, they will inject fresh ​perspectives and knowledge from our internationally-developed curriculum that can ​directly inspire the evolution of your climate investment and legislative portfolios. Further ​information will be sent out as the foundations of the course continue to develop.

The Young Leaders in Ocean Governance team is currently in the process of signing ​Memorandums of Understanding with partner organizations. This includes ​permission to utilize their logos in promotional materials. Therefore, we are ​currently unable to publically disclose our full list of partners. If you have any ​further inquiries regarding this matter, please reach out to ​info@youngoceanleaders.org

An updated, real-time list of public and official partners will be updated below:

Official International Partners:

Timeline

Proposal

Young Leaders in Ocean Governance,

a member and programme of The Ocean Rights Coalition, holding ​the UK commercial registration No. SC815244

info@youngoceanleaders.org

Instagram: @youngoceanleaders