EU Ambassador Urges Immediate Action on Caribbean Sargassum Crisis

At a forum in Cancun, it was suggested that sargassum, a type of seaweed, could be a valuable resource due to its innovative uses. The seaweed has been arriving in large quantities on the Mexican coasts of Quintana Roo.

Gautier Mignot, the European Union (EU) ambassador in Mexico, emphasized the urgent need for large-scale solutions to this issue during the National Forum Mexico-European Union 'Turning Sargassum into an Opportunity'. He expressed the EU's desire to support a global strategy that involves all public and private sectors from all countries in the region.

Mignot mentioned that the Cancun Forum is a precursor to a high-level regional conference scheduled for October in Granada. He highlighted that there are already practical solutions in place, not just theoretical ones, with products already being produced from sargassum.

René Orellana Halkyer, regional manager of Mexico and Central America of the Latin American Development Bank-CAF, revealed that a fund of 1.2 billion dollars has been set aside for projects related to sargassum. He explained that annually, over 130 million dollars are spent in Mexico's private sector, particularly in the hotel industry, to tackle the sargassum issue.

However, Halkyer acknowledged that perspectives have shifted in recent years, with sargassum now being viewed as a valuable product. He noted that the private sector is developing technologies and innovations to utilize sargassum as a high-value input.

Mario Daniel López, a founding partner of Renovare, shared how his company started using sargassum in their shoe manufacturing process. They initially brought sargassum back to their factory in León, Guanajuato in 2018 for testing, and now have suppliers who regularly send them the seaweed.

Óscar Alberto Rébora Aguilera, Secretary of Ecology and Environment of Quintana Roo (the state where Cancun is located), emphasized the importance and urgency of addressing the sargassum problem with a regional approach. He mentioned studies from the Inter-American Development Bank that have…