The Ocean on the Balance Sheet

The New York Times reports that a mining venture called The Metals Company is close to securing the first U.S. commercial recovery permit for the high seas. The company just cleared a key hurdle to mine polymetallic nodules from the deep seabed, when the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found its application in full compliance. Roughly 15.5 million tonnes of nickel and 12.8 million tonnes of copper are estimated to exist in the floor of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which could be critical minerals for the energy transition. But the ocean – particularly the parts considered high seas, beyond any national jurisdiction – is one of the least understood ecosystems on Earth and requires a cautious approach that prioritizes protection. This complexity is the subject of the new treaty on the high seas or “BBNJ” – marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction – that came into force in January 2026.

With economic value of oceans gaining wider recognition, new tools are emerging to quantify business impacts. As ESG Today reports, CDP has added a dedicated Oceans category to its 2026 disclosure platform, with questions on target setting, supply-chain engagement, and board oversight of ocean-related risk. The CDP’s Head of Ocean, Oliver Tanqueray, explains, “Better data enables better decisions – for companies, investors and the ocean itself.” Companies’ CDP ocean disclosures will be unscored in this first cycle as a “learning year,” but the introduction of an Ocean category signals a clear direction: with more than 22,000 companies already disclosing through CDP, ocean dependencies are entering the same reporting machinery as climate and water.

The 2026 response window opens this month, which makes now the moment for maritime, fisheries, energy, and food-sector companies to get ahead of it. Our CDP response team is already fielding client questions.

Ocean health matters in dollars, and this comes through this week in two stories. First, Impakter covers new research published in Nature regarding the first biodiversity-adjusted sovereign credit model. The Nature authors find that a partial collapse of wild pollinators, tropical forests, and marine fisheries could add US $162 billion a year to global sovereign debt payments and leave $83 trillion in assets mispriced. Oceans, in other words, can affect governments’ credit ratings and sovereign debt.

Another development in the market impacts of ocean health is highlighted by UN News in an article for World Ocean Day. When it comes to damage from plastic pollution, a dilemma remains around advancing more sustainable substitutes for plastic, like seaweed-based materials. Tariffs on alternatives run 14.4% against just 7.2% for fossil-based plastics. For companies on the packaging and producer-responsibility side of that shift, our resource paper on Extended Producer Responsibility in the EU maps where the rules are heading, and our EPR support team helps clients stay ahead of them.

The rest of this edition widens the lens beyond the water. The biggest standard-setting news of the week comes from the SBTi, which released version 2.0 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard — introducing a “best efforts” approach for the more than 11,000 companies in its framework, a pragmatic turn we help clients navigate through our SBTi target-setting work. Speaking of pragmatic, GRI pressed for tighter ESRS alignment to cut the reporting burden for companies working in the EU. Also in Europe, EU member states have agreed to extend the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to roughly 180 downstream steel and aluminum products.

Underneath all of the tracking and regulating, a reminder about the physical reality: the World Meteorological Organization put the odds at 75% that the 2026–2030 five-year average temperature will breach a 1.5°C rise.