For those participants, and particularly Missions and observers to the United Nations, wishing to attend in person, please send your request to Nichola Dyer at nicholajdyer@outlook.com by Sunday, 7 July 2024.
The deadline for all in-person registrations is noon, 9 July 2024.
Background
Seaweed is a versatile marine macroalgae that is increasingly gaining recognition for its multifaceted contributions to development, environmental sustainability, food security, and gender empowerment. The global seaweed market is valued at approximately $17 billion, with exports reaching above $1 billion in 2021 (UNCTAD, 2023). The World Bank has identified ten global seaweed markets with the potential to grow by an additional USD 11.8 billion by 2030 (World Bank, 2023). Seaweed can offer sustainable solutions to help improve livelihoods in developing countries, particularly for poor coastal communities. It can rapidly regenerate and supports ecosystem restoration. Women play a significant role in seaweed production, processing, and commercialization. However, much of the seaweed sector’s economic, environmental, and social potential remains untapped (UNCTAD, 2024). During a time of multiple crises, development of sectors such as seaweed takes on a new urgency. Despite its multiple and multifaceted contributions to sustainable development, seaweed has historically been underrepresented in the public sphere. At the level of member states, seaweed is often an institutional orphan, without an agency or individual designated responsibility to monitor and develop the sector, and funds that are expressly intended for “blue” initiatives often pass seaweed by.
Objective
This event aims to inform attendees of the multifaceted contributions seaweed is making to, and its potential to do even more for, the achievement of the Goals under review (and others) and call for the creation of a global dialogue and coordination mechanism for mainstreaming the rapid growth and value of the seaweed and its by-products sector into sustainable development action on the road to the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2025.
Programme
Moderator: Nichola Dyer, Senior Advisor, Global Seaweed Coalition (in person)
Introductory remarks: Chantal Line Carpentier, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development Branch, UN Trade & Development (virtual)
Keynote: Eun Kyoung Hwang, PhD, Senior Researcher, Seaweed Research Institute, National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS), Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea (virtual)
Perspectives from the EU: Delilah Al-Khudhairy, PhD, Director, DG MARE, European Commission (pre-recorded video)
Panel: Panel focus – How seaweed contributes to achieving each of the Goals under review at HLPF 2024
Panelists:
- Laurie Hofmann, PhD, Professor, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Science and Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences
- Runa Ray, Founder, Fashioning for Social Environmental Justice (in person)
- Anoushka Concepcion, Chair, Strategic Advisory Council, Global Seaweed Coalition (in person)
Dynamics: panelist presentations + Q&A
Closing remarks: Wrap-up and call to action: Valerie Hickey, Global Director, Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy, World Bank (virtual)
Outcome
The expected outcome of this event is enhanced understanding by member states of seaweed’s potential as a regenerative solution to improve livelihoods, especially for women, and to address multiple global crises. The event will also contribute to the international public dialogue on the need to formalize the trade policy, development, and science interphase for the sector.
The United Nations High Level Pollical Forum (HLPF) 2024
The 2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will be held from Monday, 8 July, to Wednesday, 17 July, under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This includes the three-day ministerial segment from Monday, 15 July to Wednesday, 17 July. The theme will be "Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”. The 2024 HLPF will review in-depth: Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere; Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts; Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels; and Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
Nichola Dyer, former Secretariat Manager and Senior Advisor to the Global Seaweed Coalition, is a seasoned international economic development professional with experience spanning the non-profit, public, and private sectors. Nichola’s continued engagement on seaweed includes serving on the Advisory Board of GlobalSeaweed-SUPERSTAR.
She recently joined the board of the non-profit Center for Advancing Health Systems Innovations as Vice-Chair, Strategy, and for several years has been serving on the boards of the Concordia University Alumni Association (where she founded its Equity/Diversity/Inclusion task force) and of Washington DC’s Tonic Theater Company. She also chairs an education grant program for women from developing countries.
During 26 years of World Bank Group service, she managed the $1.5b Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, developed greenfield operational engagements on excluded minorities and disability, led the ethics office, and established the Gabon office. She obtained her MSc in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Chantal Line Carpentier joined DITC, UNCTAD after serving as Chief, UNCTAD New York Office of the Secretary-General, since 2014. She brings to the Branch over 25 years of work experience in International Trade, and Environmental and Agro-Economics.
Prior to working with UNCTAD, she supported the Commission on Sustainable Development and served as Major Groups (of non-State actors) Coordinator for the UN Rio+20 Conference and the SDGs negotiations at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), and supported the sustainable consumption and production and sustainable agriculture negotiations. As Head of the North American Free Trade Agreement Commission for Environmental Cooperations, she lead work on the nexus of environment, economy, and trade. She also served as Agro-environmental policy analyst for Winrock International, and post-Doctoral fellow/Brazil office manager for the International Food Policy Research Institute.
She obtained a PhD. in Agro-Environmental Economics from Virginia Technology and MSc. and BSc. from McGill University. She has an extensive list of publications on sustainable agriculture, trade and environment, sustainable consumption and production, financing for sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, global value chains, micro, small and medium enterprises, and economic empowerment of women.
High-Level Political Forum 2024: Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions (8-17 July 2024)
RegistroRegister online for this meeting
Related
Topic
Trade and environment
Programa
Contact
David Vivas Eugui, david.vivaseugui@unctad.org
Nichola Dyer, nicholajdyer@outlook.com
Harrison Charo Karisa, hkarisa@worldbank.org
Azzedine Badis, azzedine.badis@safeseaweedcoalition.org
