The Blue Economy Potential for Latin America and the Caribbean

The panel of experts, moderated by Rémi Parmentier, director of the Varda Group and one of the original founders of Greenpeace, analyzed the major challenges facing the oceans globally, and the pivotal role that Latin America and the Caribbean has in leading ocean protection through novel initiatives that can set the tone for other regions.

Alicia Montalvo, Manager of Climate Action and Positive Biodiversity at CAF, said that the international organization will allocate USD 1.25 billion to preserve the health of the oceans, and that in order to efficiently invest funds, all stakeholders and their interests need to be aligned to ensure both the viability of investments and their impact on socioeconomic development and local communities in Latin American countries.

The experts put forward the notion that marine protection is also climate action, as it contributes to both the mitigation of and adaptation to global warming. Minna Epps, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme, said: “There is growing information about opportunities to fund ocean protection plans. Multilateral banks have played a decisive role in recent years, and looking to the future, they are in an unparalleled position to become umbrellas and integrate the interests of all stakeholders.”

According to experts, CAF is in a good position to lead and coordinate the strategies that Latin American countries use to develop plans to reduce biodiversity loss, coastal zone erosion, establish blue carbon sequestration mechanisms, promote sustainable tourism and promote novel initiatives that can be replicated regionally.

“There are three major challenges to creating ocean sustainability plans: financial, political and technical challenges. We need to raise the ambition of countries and add new members so that there are concrete plans to preserve the oceans by 2030,” said Cinthya Barzuna, from Ocean Action 2030 Coalition.