Seaweed plays a key role in advancing multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 14. They help mitigate ocean acidification, reduce marine pollution, and support marine ecosystems. They can enhance food security and help eradicate poverty for millions of smallholders, especially in coastal communities.
This side event, co-chaired by the Minister of Blue Economy of Madagascar and representatives of the French government, will announce an initiative to create a UN Task Force on Seaweed, showcasing internationally coordinated efforts needed to fill critical gaps to strengthen the development of a safe and sustainable seaweed sector.
It will also include a presentation of the “Seaweed Breakthrough”, a science-based initiative to set targets for seaweed supported by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions.
Moderator: Ms. Nichola Dyer, Founder & CEO, NJDyer Global Advisory
Speakers:
- H.E. Mr. Paubert Tsimanaoraty Mahatante, Minister for Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Republic of Madagascar
- Mr. Eric Banel, General Director for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Republic of France
- H.E. Mr Arif Havas Oegroseno, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia
- Mr. Edwin Mhede, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, United Republic of Tanzania
- Ms. Felaniaina Lantovololona, Aquaculture Director, Ministry for Fisheries and the Blue Economy of the Republic of Madagascar
- Ms. Elizabeth Cottier-Cook, Head, Scottish Association for Marine Science, United Nations University Associate Institute
- Mr. Manuel Barange, Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO
- Mr. Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Advisor Ocean, UNGC
- Mr. Nima Bahramalian, Industrial Development Expert, UNIDO
- Mr. Ludovic Arnaud, Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD
- Ms. Karen Evans, Head, Ocean Science Section, UNESCO-IOC
Organisers:
Republic of France, Republic of Madagascar, FAO, UNCTAD, UNEP, Global Seaweed Coalition, UNGC, IGCN , CNRS – French National Research Center, CEVA - Center for the Study and Valorization of Seaweed, National History Museum, SAMS – Scottish Association for Marine Science, International Seaweed Association, Aquatic Blue Food Coalition, World Bank, African Union Development Agency, Nichola Dyer Global Advisory
Nichola Dyer, Senior Advisor to the Global Seaweed Coalition, brings experience across multilateral institutions and the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors to her sustainability work.
She has designed and led strategic global initiatives across a wide range of sectors and themes, including seaweed and aquaculture, food systems and food security, governance, and engagement of marginalized and vulnerable groups. Currently, she serves on the Advisory Board of GlobalSeaweed-SUPERSTAR and several other non-profits and chairs an education grant program for women from developing countries.
During 26 years of World Bank Group service, Nichola 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.
Mahatante Tsimanaoraty Paubert, currently Minister of Fisheries and Blue Economy of Madagascar since August 2021. Paubert is a marine biologist and oceanographer with 16 years of experience in the field of fisheries, aquaculture and marine ecosystems. He is an Associate Professor and full-time lecturer at the University of Toliara, Madagascar, for 7 years.
Paubert is also a founding member of several organizations in Africa, including SWIOTUNA, EARFISH, SANSAFA/SADC, and WIOGEN. He is an alumnus of the Fisheries and Marine Sciences Institute of the University of TOLIARA, the University of California Davis, the African Leadership Center, the Open Society Initiative for the Southern Africa and the Young African Leaders Initiative.
Paubert is the author of dozens of articles on fisheries, aquaculture and Blue Economy in general. As a public speaker and blue economy expert, he aims to make fish farming a similar activity to poultry farming in Madagascar and throughout the SADC Region, where every household practices it, mainly in rural areas, in order to contribute to food security, job creation, and poverty reduction.
The fight against IUU fishing and the transformation of the fishing sector in sub-Saharan Africa are among its main priorities. This, with the aim of strengthening the resilience of the community.
Éric Banel has been Director General of Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture since 2 March 2022. Between 2020 and 2022, he was head of the Directorate for Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA), attached to the Secretary of State for the Sea and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, and was co-editor of the report on the prefiguration of a Directorate-General for the Sea.
After a career devoted to the sea and the modernisation of maritime administration, he is now the first Director General of this new structure.
Éric Banel, General Administrator of Maritime Affairs, has held a number of management positions in decentralised services, in Boulogne-sur-Mer, La Réunion and New Aquitaine, in central administration, at the Ministry for the Sea, the General Planning Commission and the General Secretariat for the Sea, and also in the private sector, as General Delegate of Armateurs de France between 2012 and 2017.
Arif Havas Oegroseno has served as Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs since October 2024. Previously, he was Indonesia’s Ambassador to Germany (2018–2024), Vice Minister at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (2015–2018), and Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the EU (2010–2015).
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was Director General for Law and International Treaties (2008–2010) and Director for Political, Security, and Regional Agreements (2002–2008). In 2010, he became the first Indonesian to preside over the UNCLOS Conference at the UN.
His diplomatic career spans over 30 years, with key assignments in Geneva (1993–1997) and Lisbon (1999–2002). He has led major negotiations on maritime boundaries, extradition, trade, and sustainable development and was instrumental in developing Indonesia’s Ocean Policy and the Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, he has participated in advanced training courses worldwide. He has received honorary medals from Belgium and serves on international law panels. A frequent lecturer, he has spoken at leading universities, including the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, and at major international conferences.
Dr. Edwin P. Mhede is a progressive leader who serves as Deputy Permanent Secretary of a cabinet-level Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries of the Tanzania Government. He is also an Advisory Group Member of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) Domestic Resource Mobilization Program (2024–2027) in Finland. He has previously held various technical and leadership positions in the Government, including the role of Deputy Permanent Secretary of Trade and Investment with the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investments; Commissioner General of Tanzania Revenue Authority, and the Chief Executive Officer of the President’s Office Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency. He has served in corporate Boards in roles as Board Chairman of NMB Bank Plc, Deputy Board Chairman and Chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee of the National Development Corporation, Non-Executive Director of CRDB Bank Plc, and Board Director of Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitation Authority and Export Processing Zones Authority.
He is an empirical development economist with over 17 years of hands-on experience in both the public and private sectors. He has extensive skills in the empirics of development economics, trade practices, banking, economic policy analysis, international negotiations, and industrial research and investment. He is highly recognized for his bold leadership in implementing multifaceted economic programs that foster growth in Tanzania’s public and private sectors which led him in 2019 to earn a prestigious international commendation award by the Government of Japan. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s Degree in Development Economics from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan, and a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Morogoro, Tanzania.
Lantovololona Felaniaina is a marine biologist working at the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy in Madagascar, as the Director of Aquaculture department.
In her current role, she coordinates all activities regarding freshwater and marine aquaculture and liaises with national and international stakeholders on these matters.
She holds a double master’s degree, one in bioaquatic sciences and the other in molecular biology, obtained from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology and Bangor University in the UK.
Elizabeth Cottier-Cook is Professor in Marine Biology, specialising in Seaweed Biosecurity, Protection and Restoration at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB).
She has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers and has led seaweed-related, multi-national initiatives with partners globally for the last 10 years. She is currently leading a large-scale research programme “GlobalSeaweed-SUPERSTAR” funded by the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which aims to produce a 2030 Seaweed Breakthrough by 2026.
She is also the co-lead for a new £3M programme “GlobalSeaweed-PROTECT” funded by UK Research and Innovation working to improve resilience in the seaweed aquaculture industry in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. She has previously led a £6M research programme “GlobalSeaweedSTAR” funded by UK Research and Innovation – Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) involving DAC-list countries from around the world, which worked closely with UN FAO to implement a Progressive Management Pathway for Improving Aquaculture Biosecurity.
Elizabeth is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for the Global Seaweed Coalition, the ICES Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms (WGITMO), the Scottish Government Working Group on Marine Non-Native Species and is a lead chapter author for the 3rd UN World Ocean Assessment.
Vincent Doumeizel is Senior Adviser on the oceans to the United Nations Global Compact as well as director of the Food Programme at the Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
A self-described optimist and global citizen, Vincent has in recent years devoted himself to promoting a food revolution and environmental solutions based on sea resources, especially seaweed. Vincent leads the charitable objectives of the Foundation through the funding of innovative projects to drive safety in the food supply chain.
Partnering with the UN, FAO, World Bank, WWF, universities, NGOs and large brands, Vincent released the “Seaweed Manifesto” and now co-leads the Global Seaweed Coalition with the objective to scale up the seaweed industry safely in order to address some of the world’s most important challenges, such as hunger, global warming, pollution and poverty.
Nima Bahramalian is an Industrial Development Expert at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Over the past ten years he has been working on sustainable development of the seaweed industry in Indonesia with a focus on enhancing its innovation capacity, quality and competitiveness. He has been applying systems theory to better navigate interventions aimed at transformation of seaweed industry towards a sustainable and equitable development path.
He is currently focused on researching and developing projects to leverage seaweed potential for climate action. As a development practitioner he has managed technical assistance projects that promoted sustainable development of productive sectors in Guyana, Uganda, South Africa, Republic of North Macedonia, Albania, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Viet Nam and the Philippines.
Nima holds a BEng from Tehran Azad University of Science and Research, an MA in International Business from University of Greenwich and an MSc in Urban Economic Development from University College London.
Ludovic Arnaud is an Associate Economic Affairs Officer in the Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch of UNCTAD, focusing on ocean economic data and analysis. He previously worked on supporting UNCTAD in its development of databases on trade in ocean goods and services and trade in biodiversity-based products, as well as on the organisation of the informal Working Group on trade and biodiversity statistics and the 5th UN Ocean Forum.
He holds a PhD in International Development from the University of Oxford, focused on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and a Master’s from the University of Cambridge.
His research has been published in New Political Economy, World Politics Review, and Oxford Analytica. His upcoming book, ‘Hostile Trade Renegotiation: The Paradox of USMCA’ will be published with Georgetown University Press.
Dr Karen Evans leads the Ocean Science section of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
The section coordinates and leads the generation of ocean science knowledge and tools across the thematic areas of climate change, including ocean acidification, deoxygenation, carbon cycles and blue carbon, pollution and pest species including harmful algal blooms and ship fouling. It also coordinates and supports national reporting against a number of Sustainable Development Goal 14 indicators and multi-lateral processes including the Paris Agreement.
Karen is a marine ecologist by training with over 20 years of experience in building scientific understanding of marine resources and achieving effective ocean management, particularly in relation to domestic and international fisheries, offshore wind energy development and threatened, endangered and protected species.
She has led international teams in the coordination of global ocean observation systems for biology and ecosystems and delivery of global assessments of the marine environment on behalf of the UN.
