Ray Dalio's latest bet

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Oct 7, 2025, 10:18:42 AM (3 days ago) Oct 7

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Billionaire Ray Dalio is taking a cue from legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau and embarking on a mission to survey the deep seas.

Today’s newsletter takes a look at Dalio’s new venture, which joins a global race to map what lies beneath the oceans. Surging interest in deep sea mining, including from President Donald Trump’s administration, has spurred calls to protect the seabed before it’s irreversibly damaged.

We also bring you the latest outlook on renewable energy by the International Energy Agency. While recent policy changes in the US and China cloud the outlook for global capacity, there’s a silver lining. Read more to find out.

And if someone forwarded this email your way, please subscribe to the Green Daily.

Dalio’s ocean bet

By Ishika Mookerjee

Billionaire Ray Dalio’s philanthropic arm is backing a research expedition in the Indian Ocean to monitor marine life and bolster protection of the deep seas.

The advanced research vessel OceanXplorer, a former oil exploration ship operated by Dalio’s nonprofit OceanX, set sail today from Singapore. It embarked on a 24-day study of Monsoon Rise, a chain of underwater mountains across an area of more than 17,000 square kilometers (6,560 square miles) underneath the Indian Ocean.

Scientists from nations including Thailand, Indonesia and Fiji have joined the Singapore-led mission, aimed at improving the understanding of ocean biodiversity in a largely unexplored region.

“The region is primarily ocean, and ocean is the most important asset,” Dalio said on Saturday ahead of the launch. The veteran investor and founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates said his interest in the marine environment had been inspired by watching explorer Jacques Cousteau on television. “That had the effect of me learning how to dive and then taking [son and OceanX co-chief executive] Mark and his brothers diving, and that had the effect of creating this dream.”

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

The move comes after dozens of countries ratified the landmark United Nations treaty on deep sea conservation last month. The accord, which will go into effect in January, will transform how countries, corporations and scientific organizations operate in the 60% of ocean that’s beyond any country’s jurisdiction. It provides for, among other things, establishing marine protected areas in international waters.

Singapore, where Dalio has established a branch of his family office, is a major proponent of the UN treaty. The country’s National Research Foundation is supporting the expedition as part of a S$6 million ($4.6 million) grant, while the amount provided by Dalio remains undisclosed. Dalio Philanthropies has distributed more than $7 billion since it was founded in 2003.

OceanXplorer is equipped with submersibles and remotely operated vehicles that will allow scientists to study marine life in 40 to 50 sites, including many that are thousands of meters below sea level, said Peter Ng, a professor at the National University of Singapore who helped organize the research trip. “We will register, record and share it with the whole world,” he said.

Advanced research vessel OceanXplorer in Singapore. Photographer: Ishika Mookerjee/Bloomberg

A surge in interest in the prospects of mining the sea floor for critical metals has sparked concern that the seabed could be damaged irreversibly before researchers have had the chance to understand what lies there and the role it plays in the global climate and weather systems.

Advocates of deep sea mining see the activity as a potential option to boost supply of metals including manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper, all crucial to clean energy technologies. President Donald Trump’s administration has offered support to accelerate it, while India’s government recently signed an agreement with the UN-affiliated International Seabed Authority to explore a region of the Indian Ocean for polymetallic sulphides.

Read the full story, and subscribe to Bloomberg News to stay on top of the latest climate news.

Deep understanding

6,560 sq miles

The chunk of ocean, as large as 5 New York Central Parks, that the Dalio-backed OceanXplorer will cover during its mission

Next steps

“Once we explore the oceans and increase our understanding, there’s also the need to safeguard the resources of the high seas and the deep sea”

Vivian Balakrishnan

Singapore foreign minister

Calling all Pioneers

Ships docked at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

BloombergNEF’s annual Pioneers competition is open to startups developing game-changing technologies to reduce emissions. This year’s themes include building sustainable data centers, flattening the so-called duck curve, and decarbonizing shipping and heavy-duty transport.

If you work at a startup trying to solve these problems, the deadline to register your interest in applying to be one of BNEF’s 2026 Pioneers is Friday, October 17. Working on a different problem? Fear not, there’s a wildcard category as well. Learn more about the competition, and read our coverage of this year’s winners.

Solar outlook

By Mark Chediak

The International Energy Agency cut its forecast for global renewable capacity growth by 5% based on policy changes in the US and China.

The IEA halved its outlook for US renewable energy growth by 2030. The reduction compared to last year’s analysis is due to several moves by President Donald Trump’s administration including the early phaseout of federal tax credits for clean energy installations, import restrictions and permit restrictions for solar and wind projects on federal land.

In China, the forecast was cut due to a shift from fixed tariffs to auctions, which is impacting project economics across the Chinese market. Still, the country will account for nearly 60% of global renewable capacity growth and is on track to reach its recently announced 2035 wind and solar target five years ahead of schedule.

Global renewable power is expected to reach 2.6 times its 2022 levels and will increase by 4,600 gigawatts by 2030. Solar will account for almost 80% of that, followed by wind, hydro, bioenergy and geothermal. While the amount is equivalent to adding the current generation capacity of China, the European Union and Japan, it’s still not enough to triple global renewable capacity by the end of the decade.

That means nearly 200 countries will fall short of the pledge they signed at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 to triple global renewable capacity by 2030. Still, the target is within reach, the IEA said.

Subscribe to Green Daily for more news and analysis on renewable power.

More from Green

PME, a Dutch pension fund with $68 billion in assets, is the latest to exit investments in a number of companies exposed to the Palestinian territories after identifying them as potentially tied to human rights violations.

The decision follows “an extensive due diligence process and engagement that took several months,” a PME spokesperson said. The companies include US-based online travel company Booking Holdings, cement maker Cemex, and Motorola Solutions, a communications equipment provider.

The spokesperson added peace talks due to take place in Egypt “will not” alter PME’s position. The total holding, which comprises shares and bonds of the excluded companies, was valued at €151 million ($177 million) at the end of June, PME said.

The divestments reflect growing unease among some asset owners and managers that their investments may be contributing to the continual establishment and maintenance of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and to the war in Gaza.

Palestinians wait to collect free food from a charity kitchen in Gaza City Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg

Read the full story on Bloomberg.com

Danish wind power company Orsted raised $9.4 billion to shore up its balance sheet after the Trump administration’s moves against offshore wind upended the firm’s business model.

The green debt market is going through its busiest spell in nearly 18 months, with borrowers from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF to French energy firm Engie turning to Europe for green funding.

There’s an ESG fight brewing in Ontario. Entrepreneur Som Seif and his firm Purpose Investments Inc. are at the center of an unprecedented showdown with the country’s top markets watchdog over alleged false or misleading statements.

Worth a listen

The “Berlin Bear” holds up a gas turbine at the entrance of Siemens Energy’s plant Photographer: Nicolo Lanfranchi

Rising power demand from data centers for artificial intelligence has led to a shortage of the gas turbines needed to generate electricity. This shortage might not seem the most obvious climate story, but it's having impacts across the entire energy sector. This week on Zero, Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski joins Akshat Rathi to look at what’s causing the bottleneck in gas turbines, if the shortage will make companies look to renewables or coal, and whether natural gas is really a “bridge” fuel.

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.