The first refugee investment impact bond is poised to launch in 2019.

Ten years on from a financial crisis often portrayed as caused by the greed of bankers, we are talking recycled carpets and alleviating poverty. It is a genuinely good thing.

To expect impact investment to be of greater size now than it is would be to miss the point of it altogether.

As the oceans reach a crisis point, private capital must be deployed to fund sustainable solutions. Given that the seas are equivalent to the world’s seventh largest economy, finance is more aligned with the deep than has been previously recognized. A handful of bankers and investment managers are leading the way, but success will require a collective effort from across the financial industry.

Managed marine protected areas are an effective tool in coastal ocean conservation. They are also ripe to be included in investment structures. The upsides for everyone may help push the protected area of the world’s seas from 2% to 30% by 2030.

In April Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte took a characteristically drastic step. He closed Boracay. It is an indication of the environmental threat from marine pollution. Can the private sector help clean up the seas?

Private-sector investors are taking their first tentative steps into sustainable fisheries projects. Alignment of interests and investment returns look good on paper, but there are many practical issues that need to be addressed before radical transformation can occur.

Blue finance is set to take off this year, buoyed by growing appetite for investments in sustainable fisheries, conservation and alternative plastics. It’s further evidence of the influence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

…and how wealth management can have a brighter future.

CEO has broader ambitions as firm turns 10; impact investing still modest in Asia but growing.

Credit Suisse leads banks with coalition for investments; forest resilience bond slated for next year.

Marisa Drew has gone from being one of Credit Suisse’s most senior investment bankers to overseeing the Swiss group’s new global impact finance and advisory division, reporting directly to group chief executive Tidjane Thiam. Clients are curious. Should competitors take note?

David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, and Jim Cowles, CEO for EMEA at Citi, discuss exclusively with Euromoney how finance can help the refugee crisis at the launch of an initiative.

While foundations may be known for their giving, their investment portfolios lack creativity when it comes to solving environmental and social challenges. Some are taking their missions further.

To solve the world’s problems will take coordination between NGOs, governments and the private sector – banks should not shy away.

In the refugee camps of Jordan and Lebanon, life for the many of the 5 million Syrians displaced by civil war somehow goes on. A whole new financial ecosystem is needed to support the amazing resilience and initiative of many of these refugees, who have little prospect of going home. It presents a new challenge for NGOs and they need the help of investors, financial institutions and the private sector. Euromoney visited camps in Jordan and urban areas in Lebanon to talk to aid workers, government and non-government officials and the refugees themselves to find out what role the banking system can play in alleviating the greatest humanitarian challenge of this century.

Speak to people involved in philanthropy about impact investing and lots of contradictory phrases are trotted out. "It’s not new, but at the same time it’s very new," is one. "It’s a great opportunity, but there are lots of challenges," is another. For Mario Marconi, managing director and head of family services at UBS, the concept is simpler. "The idea of impact investing is to promote social and environmental good while at the same time applying an investment logic," he says.