Sergio Díaz-Granados
Presidente Ejecutivo, CAF -banco de desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe-
Colombia
The oceans are in crisis. Warmer and more acidic waters, rising sea levels and overfishing - with 90% of the world's fish stocks at the limit - threaten the food security of 1 billion people and the 350 million jobs linked to the sea.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the situation is no less worrying: 27% of the population lives in coastal areas, megacities such as Lima or Rio de Janeiro depend heavily on marine ecosystems, 55% of commercial fisheries are overexploited, and the Caribbean has already lost 40% of its fish production in a decade as a result of global warming and coastal erosion.
The future of our economies is inextricably linked to the health of the oceans, which cover half of Latin America and the Caribbean, and up to 91% of the island states. Therefore, we need new financial commitments to transform the way we interact with our seas.
Faced with this panorama, CAF has made a historic commitment: we will invest US$2.5 billion by 2030 to promote the blue economy, that is, to encourage responsible tourism, promote artisanal fishing, manage the region's coastlines, conserve and restore marine ecosystems, and develop clean technologies and renewable ocean energy.
This is not just a financial announcement. With this decision, we have become the main multilateral partner for Latin America and the Caribbean to move towards a model where marine protection and economic development are allies. This financial commitment doubles the commitment made at the Lisbon Conference in 2022, which we reached ahead of schedule, and makes CAF the leading multilateral organization in blue finance.
The potential of the blue economy in Latin America and the Caribbean is immense. For example, we have 18% of the global marine ecoregions (more than any other region) and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest barrier reef in the world. For this reason, in recent years CAF has advanced with a greater presence in both the Caribbean and the Pacific aimed at turning Latin America and the Caribbean into a region of global solutions. In fact, the entry of new Caribbean countries to CAF will allow us to offer new regional solutions.
For example, we have contributed to coastal adaptation initiatives in Trinidad and Tobago, energy transition in the shrimp sector in Ecuador, marine sanitation in Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, and ocean policies in Colombia, among others. We also strengthened the management of 1.5 million km2 of marine protected areas to increase fish stocks and promote fisheries employment and scientific research; supported the diagnosis and management of illegal fishing in several countries; installed nurseries in the Caribbean to improve the survival and adaptation of corals to climate change; supported programs to improve response to sargassum inundation; and improved waste management.
The health of our oceans depends on funding, but also on blue diplomacy to position ourselves as a region of global solutions through international partnerships. We are weaving networks between scientists, entrepreneurs and local communities to create solutions that can be replicated in other regions of the planet. It is not simply a matter of injecting capital, but of building innovation ecosystems where knowledge flows as freely as ocean currents.
Education also plays a key role: we need to train a new generation of marine professionals, from biotechnologists to ocean law specialists, because understanding the sea requires as many disciplines as the sea itself harbors.
Another essential area for action is partnerships. For this reason, at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) in Monaco, CAF, the World Economic Forum and the World Resources Institute presented a report with a series of measures to address global ocean challenges from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective. The document identifies opportunities and challenges for implementing public policies, designing investment strategies and strengthening strategic alliances, with the aim of consolidating the region as a leader in blue development, environmental conservation and social justice. It also analyzes the structural challenges faced, such as weak governance, regulatory gaps, institutional deficiencies, climate vulnerability and limited access to blue financing, while detailing the main opportunities for socioeconomically stimulating marine ecosystems.
The oceans are the planet's largest carbon sink and our main source of resilience. Therefore, our commitment goes beyond environmental issues: it is a commitment to change the course of sustainable development.
Latin America and the Caribbean can be the first region to demonstrate that the blue economy is not an abstract concept, but a concrete way to create millions of green jobs, protect our seas by 2030 (as required by the Global Biodiversity Framework) and reduce the gap between coastal cities and the interior.
The ocean is not the problem. It is the solution. And at CAF, we are ready to sail this wave of change.
