Uncharted waters: Investors' take on the blue economy

Following our September 2025 articles on the rise of Blue Financing, the Natixis Green & Sustainable Hub wanted to take a deeper dive into the “blue” label, to better understand investor interest and expectations.

We are happy to share the results of our investor survey, which confirm that there is notable interest in all topics related to water, and environmental objectives beyond climate, notably those of water preservation, biodiversity, and nature more generally. Nonetheless, it is an area that has still to gain in maturity, both in common understanding on definitions, and general knowledge of these topics.

The good news for issuers is that the investor consensus is on a broad definition of the blue label : almost all consider freshwater as well as marine-related projects as eligible under a « blue » label, taking a broad view of the water cycle. In addition, most investors don’t require quantitative thresholds in their definition of eligible blue projects, although this could be a signal of a need for further maturity in the measurement and reporting on water-related expenditures. This was supported by a desire for more consistent data on alignment with the EU taxonomy.

While several market standards and guidance exist that set common ground on what the « blue » label refers to, there was no clear consensus on which ones investors preferred, with many developing their own definition. It will be interesting to see how the market develops, whether definitions will converge, or whether it will remain a case-by-case definition. One interesting element was that “pure blue bonds” (where 100% of the proceeds are allocated to blue projects) was not a requirement, instead, investors welcome communication on the share of blue expenditures in a green bond. This supports the narrative that there is appetite for more transparent information clearly identifying water-related expenditures.

Connecting back to our observations from last year, the results of the survey confirmed that investors are increasingly interested in environmental objectives beyond climate mitigation, with biodiversity conservation being frequently cited as the core objective for blue investments. Now it is up to the market to push for clearer definitions and more consistent reporting.