About this event
Most companies assume ocean risk belongs to seafood, ports, and shipping. It doesn't.
If you buy marine-derived ingredients, move containers, sell packaged goods, or fall under biodiversity disclosure rules, your business already has ocean exposure. You can be completely landlocked and still carry it through your supply chain, your packaging, and your regulatory footprint.
Martin Koehring spent years teaching banks and insurers how to price ocean risk. Ronald Tardiff runs ocean innovation at the World Economic Forum and sits on top of a pipeline of 850 ocean startups. They'll share a working playbook for deciding whether the ocean is financially material to your business, and what to do next if it is.
What we'll cover
- Where ocean exposure actually shows up: raw materials, logistics, packaging, biodiversity regulation, litigation risk, supply chain resilience
- How to separate genuine financial materiality from noise, and why starting with technology scouting is backwards
- The build or partner decision, and why halfway commitment rarely produces a durable strategy
- Engagement models compared: internal innovation, corporate venture, innovation challenges, accelerators, third-party expertise. With examples from Orsted, Fortescue, and Unilever Foundry
- Why the blue economy has no shortage of innovation and a serious shortage of replication, including what keeps pilots from turning into procurement
- How to make these initiatives survive leadership changes, downturns, and budget cuts
What you'll leave with
A three-step method you can run on your own business: map where the ocean touches your operations, test which of those touchpoints are financially material, and decide whether to build the expertise internally or partner for it. Plus a clear-eyed comparison of five engagement models and what each one demands to survive past the pilot stage.
Who should attend
Sustainability, strategy, R&D, procurement, and supply chain leaders in CPG, F&B, chemicals, manufacturing, packaging, retail, and logistics. Especially useful if your team has been asked for an ocean or biodiversity position and needs a method for building one.
Hosted by
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Team member
Garrett Wheaton, PHD Senior PA, F&B and CPG @ PrescouterT
Garrett is a senior Project Architect at Prescouter. He holds a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from NC State University. Garrett specializes in packaging innovation and sustainability across food and beverage and consumer goods verticals.
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Team member
Daniel Morales Technical Director @ PreScouterT
Daniel leads Prescouter’s consumer packaged goods practice. He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from NC State University and has led over 100 projects spanning innovation strategy, product development, sustainability, and technology trends across the CPG industry.
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External speaker
Martin Koehring Head, Centre for Private Finance in Development @ ODI GlobalE
Martin Koehring is Head of the Centre for Private Finance in Development at ODI Global, a think tank focused on sustainable development policy and finance. He previously led blue finance work at UNEP FI, where he focused on how banks, insurers, and investors can understand and price risk across ocean sectors, including aquaculture, fisheries, and marine transport. Before that, he spent several years at The Economist Group heading the World Ocean Initiative, one of the largest ocean-focused platforms globally, where he co-led the World Ocean Summit. His work sits at the intersection of financial materiality and ocean governance.
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External speaker
Ronald Tardiff Ocean Innovation Lead @ World Economic ForumE
Ronald Tardiff is based in Geneva at the World Economic Forum, where he leads all ocean innovation work. In that role he also serves as executive for 1000 Ocean Startups, a coalition of 67 member organizations supporting over 850 ocean impact companies worldwide. The coalition spans the full investment pipeline from early-stage venture studios to established family offices and VCs. His work at the Forum covers both broad blue economy strategy and specific innovation areas including pollution remediation and nature-positive transitions for corporates.
Prescouter
Hidden intelligence that changes the decisionPrescouter supports R&D, innovation, and strategy teams with expert intelligence that answers difficult technical and market questions. We help leaders reduce uncertainty, evaluate options faster, and make confident, defensible decisions.
