A Little Taste Outside of Love, 2007, by Mickalene Thomas, from the collection of Darius Sanai

Fresh from a blockbusting exhibition in London, New York’s Mickalene Thomas, a former LUX cover star, takes us through her life and loves

LUX: Hi Mickalene, how’s it all going? It’s been a while since you were on our cover.

Mickalene Thomas: Everything is moving – sometimes beautifully, sometimes with challenges, but always forward! I have deep gratitude for the journey. That cover story was special to me. It’s wonderful to reconnect.

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LUX: How was your Hayward show?

MT: “All About Love” was my first major global show, but it was also personal. Drawing from bell hooks’ words, I leaned into love as action: how it shapes who we are, who we uplift and the stories we tell. Presenting the work in London, honouring black beauty, femininity and resilience on such a scale was profound. My hope is always that people leave with a sense of love’s transformative, radical power.

LUX: Were the rave reviews important to you?

Read more: Bentley by LUNAZ review

MT: I’m grateful, but I’m most driven by making work to be seen, to be part of culture, to shift the conversation. I think it’s important not to lose sight of your purpose by listening too closely to critics. I believe I must focus on impact, rather than acclaim, if I want to shift narratives for present and future generations.

LUX: Your work Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe: Les trois femmes noires was the standout in a high-level field for us at Jeffrey Deitch’s 2022 LA show held in response to Manet’s painting. Do you consider it your “masterpiece”?

A portrait of Mickalene Thomas taken à l’improviste by Maryam Eisler

MT: That piece is a milestone. It challenges the notions of beauty and identity – three confident black women are depicted with a fixed gaze at the viewer. I don’t believe in one “masterpiece”. The ultimate triumph is that a work resonates with someone by challenging their idea of beauty and identity or reminding them of their strength and power, especially if they are a black female or from a marginalised community.

LUX: You are indelibly associated with New York City. Is that how you like it?

MT: Completely. New York is my home and inspiration. Its cacophony, diversity and energy are inseparable from who I am and what I create. It breeds possibility. While it has changed since I moved here in the 90s, it’s still an epicentre for artistic community and connection – especially here in Brooklyn.

LUX: What is it that you love about Brooklyn?

Read more: Passenger Princess in the Aston Martin DBX S

MT: Brooklyn is home. The community is like no other – it’s culturally rich and inhabited by people from diverse backgrounds. Being surrounded by other artists also keeps me inspired and fuels my drive to keep creating.

LUX: What is your favourite part of New York?

MT: Walking across Brooklyn Bridge and pausing in the centre to look back at Brooklyn, with the vibrant city skyline stretching out ahead. Wandering through the city helps me clear my mind, reflect and dream big.

LUX: Which artists do you collect and why?

MT: My collection is like a love letter to the communities that have shaped me: women, black, queer and underrepresented artists. I simply buy art that I love and that inspires me. I started by trading art with artists such as Wangechi Mutu, Deborah Grant, Louis Cameron, Derrick Adams and Kehinde Wiley. My collection also includes a sculpture by Leilah Babirye, a mixed-media piece by Abigail DeVille and work by Joiri Minaya, a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the female body within constructions of identity and hierarchies.

Read more: A tasting of Joseph Phelps wines with Maison President David Pearson

LUX: What is new and interesting in NYC?

MT: There’s always something unfolding in New York that resists cliché. Its heartbeat isn’t just in big institutions. Now there’s a revival of salons, pop-ups, block parties, community studios, where art, music and activism breathe together.

LUX: In 2011, you had a residency in Giverny. Have you always been a person of contrasts?

MT: I’ve reinterpreted classic paintings through a contemporary, black and queer lens, creating a tension between time periods and approaches. My work is exuberant, even if it often carries weighty messages and new storylines, where black women claim space and embrace their beauty and power. By juxtaposition, I can spark new dialogues. The dualities keep my work alive.

LUX: Is creating public art important for you?

MT: Community is where the greatest impact begins – not just for society, but for artists. Making art accessible is a part of my practice. I recently completed a mosaic that is now in the lobby of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital. Justice Ginsburg’s favourite flowers – freesias and hydrangeas – dance throughout the mural with an energy that emulates the joy, strength and power she embodied. Art in public spaces becomes a catalyst for connection and change – a way for people to see themselves in the work and be reminded of possibility, resilience and joy.

mickalene.herokuapp.com

Bentley by Lunaz remasters every surface, creating an interior that feels both timeless and contemporary

There’s nothing like a 1960s Bentley for grandeur and prestige. Now a UK company, Lunaz, is hand-crafting a contemporary electrically powered version with all the appealing parts, and none of the drawbacks

If you think there is something special – a kind of aura – about the most luxurious cars from a few decades back, we think you would be correct. The reason? This was an era in which there was far less wealth in the world. China, Russia, and many of the world’s current wealthiest territories were not buying luxury goods. As a result, there were fewer luxury creations altogether, and those that were, may feel that they were much more rarefied, even when experienced now.

Lunaz reconstitutes the Bentley interior, elevating the comfort and luxury by integrating modern features, including air conditioning, heated seats, and a touchscreen infotainment system

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An excellent example is the Bentley Continental S2, which was produced  in the early 1960s. Climbing into it felt like putting on a bespoke suit intimately and painstakingly made for you, rather than anything remotely mass produced. But there are some disadvantages to cars from that era; notably, the amenities, reliability, archaic performance and polluting nature.

Bentley by Lunaz offers the glamour of the vintage experience without the archaic performance

But we were driving the best of both worlds. A contemporary of JFK would recognise a Bentley by Lunaz instantly, but the interior and also the mechanicals have been carefully re-crafted and remade for the 21st century.

Read more: Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina Review

It’s electrically powered for a start, giving it a smooth and clean burst of energy you would never have had with the original. Key elements like the brakes and the lights have also been upgraded – if you have driven a car from the 1960s you will know how bad the lights were back then. And you get air-conditioning, digital linkups and more, all craftfully hidden within what looks like an original car.

The interior of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud by Lunaz

Read more: Passenger Princess in the Aston Martin DBX S

Meanwhile, the most attractive aspect of the original – wafting around feeling like royalty – remains very much intact. The car is not dynamic by modern standards, retaining a significant element of the original’s floaty, gentle nature. It sits beautifully on a motorway, but you certainly wouldn’t race it down any country roads.

Lunaz offers the luxury of the Bentley without the climate impact

It’s most at home in town, or specifically driving from Scotts in Mayfair to your house in Belgravia, ideally with you and the Prince of Moravia in the back, and a chauffeur in the front. Although if you do drive it yourself, be sure to light up a Cohiba for extra authenticity. One of the most attractive old/new combinations we have seen, and a car you certainly won’t see any of your neighbours driving: such is its rarity. Very LUX.

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A view from the deck of the Joseph Phelps winery, looking over the vineyard in the heart of the Napa Valley

Joseph Phelps is a Napa valley wine legend. Maison President David Pearson is taking it to new heights, as we learn during a memorable tasting of fine vintages 

Is wine a luxury good? That $10 million question is in the mind of anybody who purchases a case of wine for the price of a fine mechanical watch, or in some cases a serious sports car.

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Ask five different people and you may get five different answers. Certainly some of the guardians of the old, family owned French wine estates have looked askance at me when I have asked them that question.

But, as a branded product with significant investment and responsibility to its environment, fine wine most definitely is a luxury good in many ways, aside from its price.

Joseph Phelps Vineyards owns and farms some 425 acres of vines in Napa Valley, with each vineyard bringing unique characteristics to the wines. Photograph taken by Seth Daniel

Nothing symbolises this more than the fact that the worlds greatest luxury titan, Bernard Arnault, has bought up some of the most hallowed brands in the wine world, from Dom Perignon and Krug to Château Cheval Blanc and, in Napa Valley, the Joseph Phelps winery.

Napa being what it is, it may be that the connoisseur of European wines reading this has not tasted bottles from the Phelps winery – but that is to their detriment. If there were a classification of first growths in Napa like there is in Bordeaux, Phelps would certainly be in there.

And so it was an honour for LUX to have a tasting, over zoom, of key vintages in the history of this fabled wine estate with Maison President David Pearson. Pearson himself appears to be created directly out of the confluence of luxury and wine. He is a Napa Valley stalwart, having previously directed equally legendary winery Opus One. But he also has the articulacy and ease of a genuine luxury CEO, as at home in a nouveau-style bistro in Paris as he would be pacing through the soils of Napa Valley.

Pearson is passionate about the importance of regenerative agriculture – farming that actually gives back to the soil, not just because it’s good for the environment, but it because by nature (literally) it makes better wines.

David Pearson, the Maison President, has a deep-rooted commitment to maintaining and enhancing the legacy of Joseph Phelps

He is also very aware that these days there is more choice than ever in the fine wine market and there’s no room to hide if the product itself is not at the pinnacle of its powers. Joseph Phelps may be owned by LVMH, but it does not have the marketing budget of Louis Vuitton: the wines have to stand on their own.

He speaks of the regenerative farming, and the focus on quality, as being part of a “compelling plan for our future“. There is an implication there that the great Napa estates have made their names over the last 50 years, and are now at the next step as mature brands, of blazing themselves into the consciousness of new generations of consumers in different destinations.

Read more: Passenger Princess in the Aston Martin DBX S

So given the importance of the product themselves, how did they taste?

Joseph Phelps flagship Insignia wine is really a wine for the ages: classical, structured, deep and long, it’s a wine aristocrat. It was interesting too to taste the other wines which receive less exposure in the fine wine world. Details are below, and the conclusion has to be that any serious wine collector needs a selection of Joseph Phelps, old vintages and new, in their cellar.

A glass of the Joseph Phelps 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville’s Backus Vineyard on the eastern slopes of the Napa Valley

The Joseph Phelps wines and the LUX wine notes:

Joseph Phelps Insignia 2022

In the presence of greatness, but a bit like meeting Napoleon when he was 12. You have to wait a while to see what it will do, but by Jove, this will sweep the world with its breadth.

Joseph Phelps Insignia 2021

Very taut, like tapping on the case of a Stradivarius and then peeking inside. It’s all there but if you drink it now, you won’t have experienced it properly. Still, if you do, be sure to drink it with an onglet a l’echalotte.

Joseph Phelps Insignia 2019

I felt like I was attending the debutante coming out party of this wine. Beautiful, elegant and perfumed, and perfect, but will become beyond perfect, especially after it’s been out with the wrong boy for a couple of years.

‘Any serious wine collector needs a selection of Joseph Phelps, old vintages and new, in their cellar’

Joseph Phelps Insignia 2006

Very hard to find, these back vintages, and this is why: expansive, rich but also with a hint of delicacy. Aged in a different way to a Bordeaux. Drink with some very old Comte cheese on the roof of a castle in the Luberon with a very old friend.

Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

Not as aristocratic a wine as the Insignia, but absolutely delicious with a kobe steak at a nightclub restaurant in Monte Carlo with a person who you are not supposed to be with.

Joseph Phelps Syrah 2021

A surprisingly smoky, complex Syrah that is best consumed while watching sundown from your villa in Montecito.

Joseph Phelps Scheurebe 2024

Rich dessert wine, with a parfait late afternoon at Club 55, just before the witching hour and the new magnum of Cristal.

We also had a quartet of Burgundy-style wines from the sister Freestone estate: two pinot noirs and two chardonnays. These were delightfully balanced and beautifully made.

josephphelps.com

LUX correspondent Lamya Al Saud with Aston Martin’s newest SUV: the DBX S

Aston Martin’s new DBX S is a combination of the world’s most powerful SUV engine and luxury style from the iconic UK manufacturer. LUX’s Lamya Al-Saud takes a ride, passenger princess style, and is regally impressed

I was surprised when LUX asked me to be our correspondent to test the new Aston Martin DBX S in the Dolomites in Italy. The DBX S itself sounded like quite a machine: a new 727-horsepower SUV from one of the world’s most prestigious manufacturers. But the catch was: I can’t drive, despite my parents telling me to get my licence for years. But it wasn’t an issue, my editor said. It would be a test as a passenger. After all, the most important people in cars like this are those going along for the ride, right?

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The drive took place in South Tyrol in northern Italy. The previous night, we had stayed in a delightful hotel in the village of Brixen. Suitably refreshed in the swanky spa, we got up early and hit the road, me in the passenger seat of a black DBX S with a black interior. Shutting the door to my right, its chic, shiny black leather seats had already been warmed up by the car’s technology.

“The DBX S itself sounded like quite a machine: a new 727-horsepower SUV from one of the world’s most prestigious manufacturers”

The leather felt soft to the touch, and in the middle was an elegant screen where you could plug your phone into for directions and music, and of course, buttons for all the car’s functions. I got to work immediately, adjusted the car’s heating, and had our route ready to go.

As my driver gets in the car, I sense my nerves: would this big SUV lurch me around and make me feel ill? The drive started, the roaring engine loud at first, but my driver turned it down, a feature I wasn’t aware existed.

We started down the really daunting, curvy roads of the mountain onto our trail, and my initial nerves settled as I looked around: the sun shining, gorgeous mountain trees, and classic greenery. The longer we drove, the more ice and snow we started to see. We could even see skiers on the slopes, which made me quite excited and also jealous!

“I could actually relax and enjoy the view, sitting in the soft leather seats, surrounded by the calm, warm, and beautifully finished interior”

Aston Martin introduced the DBX S this year as a luxury car with “F1-level performance.” Fortunately, it’s far more comfortable than an F1 car. The DBX S is the most powerful gas-only SUV, hitting 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in just 3.3 seconds.

Read more: Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina Review

Upgraded turbochargers give it even more punch, while quad stacked exhausts, a new front splitter, and rear diffuser turn heads. You can go all out with a carbon-fibre roof, honeycomb grille, and 23-inch magnesium wheels to shave weight and boost performance. Bottom line? It’s light, loud, handles like a dream, and is luxurious and classy.

“The DBX S is the most powerful gas-only SUV, hitting 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in just 3.3 seconds”

I got to be the passenger princess, enjoying the view, but I was assigned a very important role: passenger DJ. The DBX S comes with Aston Martin’s 800W, 14-speaker Premium Audio system and Apple CarPlay, making it easy to queue up my favourite songs. The sound was incredibly clear and powerful, with deep, rich bass you could feel through the seats and crisp vocals that felt like they were right in front of you.

Read more: Hotel Balzac Paris review

From 70s ballads to current pop songs, I really enjoyed being able to control the music. When “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee came on, it sounded especially amazing, the piano was bright and lively, the vocals were perfectly balanced, and the upbeat rhythm filled the entire car, making it feel like we were at a private concert. The quality made the song feel more energetic and immersive, which perfectly matched the drive’s excitement. DJing in a high-speed luxury mobile nightclub, I really did feel like a princess.

“I may not be getting my driver’s licence anytime soon, but if every car ride felt like that, I’d happily stay a passenger forever”

We spent two hours driving through snowy mountain roads, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. Normally, I get car sick easily, especially on winding alpine roads. I was nervous. But the DBX S completely surprised me. It was effortlessly smooth. Sharp turns didn’t feel sharp. Steep climbs didn’t feel dramatic. I never felt dizzy or nauseous once, which honestly is the highest praise I can give any car. I could actually relax and enjoy the view, sitting in the soft leather seats, surrounded by the calm, warm, and beautifully finished interior that made the whole drive feel cosy and comfortable.

I may not be getting my driver’s licence anytime soon, but if every car ride felt like that, I’d happily stay a passenger forever. I won’t have mine in Black, but a nice Princess-style Baby Pink from Aston Martin’s “Q by Aston Martin” special orders department, while a rich Burgundy interior will do nicely.

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Photography by Marcus Werner for Aston Martin

Entrepeneur, art patron and collector Alan Lo

Hong Kong-based collector, restaurateur, serial board member, philanthropist and social dynamo Alan Lo speaks about the art scene in Asia, his inspirations, and who’s stirring him right now

LUX: Are private foundations such as the Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation (YAL), which you initiated with your wife Yenn Wong, becoming more important to fill the gap in public funding of the arts?

Alan Lo: The Singapore art landscape is rather top heavy, dominated by National Gallery Singapore (NGS) and Singapore Art Museum (SAM). For the art ecosystem to thrive, we want to see activation across the whole spectrum, and we feel collector- or private patron-driven initiatives, such as YAL Foundation and our new transnational art-project space, Kim Association, exist to help fill a certain void.

Family Tango, 2024, by Skyler Chen, at the Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation

LUX: When it comes to collecting and philanthropy, who do you admire most and why?

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

AL: There are so many great collectors and art patrons who have done amazing things, but I have to say my father Victor is of great influence to me. Not only did he build what has become one of the most important 20th-century Chinese-ink collections, he also dedicated more than 15 years to public service, creating M+ in Hong Kong from what was a concept on a government report to what is today – one of the most important museums of contemporary culture in Asia.

Expect Us, 2021, by Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo) at the YAL

LUX: Which two artists excite you most at the moment and why?

AL: Naotaka Hiro is a Japanese-born painter based in the LA. I love the poetry of his work, and he has been getting quite a bit of attention among collectors and institutions. I am also excited about New York-based conceptual artist Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo). She was included in the main exhibition of Venice Biennale 2024, and we inaugurate Kim Association with a presentation of her work, as well as a new performance, in fall 2025.

LUX: Is Singapore becoming the new Hong Kong?

Noise Blanket No 20, 2024, by Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, at the YAL

AL: Haha, is that a trick question? I think the two cities have very different personalities. Singapore is the hot Switzerland, where you want to open your family office and private bank account and hang out with like-minded high-net-worth Southeast Asians. Hong Kong is where you will take your company public, keep your super yacht (with its beautiful waters and islands), build an art collection, drink DRC (being the only jurisdiction with freeport status) and expand your mainland business network.

Read more: An interview with Anna Nash of Explora Journeys

LUX: What would you like YAL Foundation to have achieved in five years time?

AL: It’s hard to say, but we hope our humble effort will help give things a kick-start and inspire other patrons to bring further activation to make a more vibrant scene, not just in Singapore but in all Southeast Asia.

@yalfoundation

The facade of Grand Hotel Kronenhof, the jewel in the crown of the little village of Pontresina

On a shelf at the confluence of the Engadine, Bernina and Roseg valleys, the Grand Hotel Kronenhof, in the village of Pontresina, combines old-world grandeur, contemporary elegance, astonishing views and some knockout cocktails

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As anyone who reads this publication will know, St Moritz and its surrounding Alpine valleys are getting more desirable by the year. But that doesn’t mean that there are not discoveries within them, and the Kronenhof is most certainly one of them.

The alpine view from Hotel Kronenhof’s lobby lounge

Sitting on a plateau above a deep, forested river gorge, the Kronenhof is the jewel in the crown of the little village of Pontresina –  located at an even more spectacular point than St Moritz itself, a six kilometre, 10-minute drive away.

Read more: Tom Rowntree on modern luxury hospitality

Pontresina sits at the mouth of the Roseg valley, which rises up to reveal dramatic glaciated and snowy peaks year round. From the swimming pool at the Kronenhof through its huge plate-glass windows, you have a fishbowl view of the whole Engadine Valley and the forested mountains lining it.

‘Pontresina sits at the mouth of the Roseg valley, which rises up to reveal dramatic glaciated and snowy peaks year round’

The rooms in public areas can only be described as high mountain high chic. There is a view everywhere you go – and it all feels very integral to nature, not urbanised at all. You can head up the mountain alongside the hotel with a guide to discover ibex hiding in the forest; or take a horse and carriage ride up the valley opposite, towards the glaciers; or hike, mountain bike, trail run, swim in lakes… and slide back into the modern grandeur of the Kronenhof.

Read more: A week of art in Jaipur

Whether you are from Bangkok or Baku, the Belle Époque Grand Restaurant dining room, with its own minstrels’ gallery (unlike anything in, say, Courchevel), will take your breath away. You feel you are in the ballroom of a 19th-century Archduke, except at 1,800 meter altitude. Service is exquisite in the way only heritage Alpine hotels can achieve. We particularly liked the after-dinner cocktails in the sophisticated bar area, and going on to the cigar lounge and pool table.

The Belle Époque Grand Restaurant dining room of Hotel Kronenhof, offering guests a meal in classic yet modern luxury

With staff who seem to know you even if you have never been before (and remember you if you have, however long ago) and an underlying civility, gentility and professionalism that speaks not just to the staff but to the sophistication of the management, for summer, winter, or in between, we can’t recommend it enough.

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Just steps from the Champs-Élysées, Hôtel Balzac brings together a historic building and state-of-the-art design after a complete renovation by Festen Architecture

The Hotel Balzac in Paris combines boutique chic with the feeling of being in a (very sophisticated) friend’s home, as LUX discovers 

Where to stay in Paris this spring? The great hotels of Paris share many qualities: style, grandeur, history, and often a powerful sense of superiority that they really are at the centre of a city unmatched by any other for sophistication.

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What they don’t tend to have, however, is tranquility and this is exactly what you find when you walk in to the Balzac. A quality even more surprising given the hotel’s location just metres off the Champs-Élysées and within throwing distance of a handbag from both the Louis Vuitton flagship and the shops of the 8th.

The lobby at Hôtel Balzac, where you can sip a cocktail or 1930s vintage

The Balzac, on a stylish side street of the same name, welcomes you in with a white tea perfume, a perfectly coiffed doorman swinging the door open for you, and a sense of 1930s-meets-contemporary style that could only emanate from the coolest collection of hotels in Paris.

You sit on white sofas and cut crystal decanters while sipping your welcome cocktail, lime hued, out of a martini glass of similar 1930s vintage (non-alcoholic, but there is an alcoholic version available in the utterly chic bar a few steps away), before being taken up to your room.

Inside Spa Ikoi, a Japanese wellness space brought to the centre of Paris by Hôtel Balzac

Ours was as tranquil as the lobby, every detail so perfectly put together that it could only be in Paris, every detail aimed towards peace and the feeling of a private home. Everything from the late art deco glassware and decanters through to the kettle, hairdryer, light switches… It feels as if you are at the home of a very stylish interior design designer friend whose parents are in fashion and art.

Read more: Tom Rowntree on modern luxury hospitality

It’s well executed too, not just surface detail: the bed is properly comfortable, the stunning bath is not just a page out of Architectural Digest magazine but supremely delicious to be in, the mini bar snacks and drinks comprise only the most artisanal brands which are also delightful to consume.

The rooms are as tranquil as the lobby, with the feeling of a private home

So is this the perfect Paris hotel? That depends a little bit on you and your requirements: if you want to take a group of friends to a flashy restaurant or bar, this is not the place, and nor is it where you take a bunch of investors looking for the flashiest parts of Paris for a business meeting.

But if you’ve been there, done everything flashy, and just want to sink into the spa/design/architectural home of some friends in the heart of the eighth – or feel like you are – there really is no better place.

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Dave Chen, CEO and Chair of Equilibrium Capital

Dave Chen founded Equilibrium Capital in 2008 after seeing growing interest in how sustainability can help shape the basic economic sectors of the Maslow hierarchy of needs, which include food, water, resources, employment and security. He recognised that climate change was shifting perceptions of asset risk and value. Equilibrium continues to invest in environmentally beneficial companies. LUX speaks to Chen about the challenges of a future blue economy

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Equilibrium Capital has been involved in environmentally responsible investing for nearly two decades, including backing carbon transition infrastructure projects and the development of controlled environment food production such as indoor and greenhouse farming. But the firm isn’t involved in the blue economy as yet. “We are not participants within the ocean economy,” says Chen. The reason is structural rather than ideological.

Ochre starfish among the coral, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada, 2016

“These markets are not ready, and people have to be comfortable with that phrase: it’s not ready,” he says. It’s a bold statement, but one backed up by years of experience: Chen joined McKinsey in 1984, spent nine years at OVP General Partners and is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. His starting point is to separate who deploys capital and why.

Read more: How Louis Roederer champagne leads in biodiversity

Government and philanthropic capital can be rewarded through social and ecological outcomes. But investor money needs monetary returns. And too often, he argues, “people just mash this all together.” That distinction becomes decisive at sea – what Chen calls the classic “commons”. And the blue economy struggles to prove its return on investment because it can’t decide on its unit of measure. Even the most mature environmental market, carbon, largely functions as fragmented regional compliance systems, not a single global market, he says.

‘Catalysing blue investment, in Chen’s telling, means basics first’

Chen believes that carbon also holds a lesson for oceans: that voluntary schemes underperform, so rules matter. “Successful examples of carbon markets tend to be highly specific, highly regional and regulated, using the law to create a market that thrives,” he says. He points out that there are some examples of that already in the blue economy, including in US watersheds such as the Mississippi River, where there are emerging traded market mechanisms.

For the rest of us, the future is dependent on investment – and investors need to see clarity on what’s being bought and sold. Catalysing blue investment, in Chen’s telling, means basics first. Governments need to set compliance-grade frameworks and standardise units. Banks can then underwrite and scale regulated pilots where rules, measurement and enforcement exist. Businesses can operate inside those regimes and prove their durability, project by project. It sounds simple, but it’s something that market participants in the blue economy have tried to duck to date, according to Chen. “Human beings don’t like being told that they have to do the basics,” he explains. “There’s no quick, easy answer.”

Photography for the UBS x LUX Blue Economy series by Cristina Mittermeier

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