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Global investment in offshore wind energy more than quadrupled in the first half of 2020 to $35 billion, despite the global economic shock precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

China greenlighted 17 offshore wind projects in the first half of the year alone, according to BNEF, driven in part by a rush by developers to finance and build projects before the government’s subsidy regime ends next year. Offshore wind’s resilience to economic headwinds, BNEF believes, is due in part to a two-thirds fall in cost since 2012.

A new report commissioned by the High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy, also found sustainable ocean policies, including increasing offshore wind production — along with mangrove conservation and restoration, decarbonization of the shipping industry, and increasing sustainable ocean-based protein — could reap huge returns for the global economy.