Cuba attends 2nd EU-Caribbean Global Gateway Conference on Sargassum

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 7 (ACN) A Cuban representative took part on the Caribbean island of Grenada in the 2nd EU-Caribbean Conference on sargassum, where cooperation from science and services to manage its upwelling and protect ecosystems was proposed.

Adianez Taboada Zamora, Cuban deputy minister of science, technology and environment (Citma by its Spanish acronym), pointed out that at the meeting there was greater convergence on the urgency of agreeing on commitments regarding plastic waste management, and the elimination of past and current contamination.

Also a just transition for the most vulnerable groups that depend economically on activities related to elastic waste, she added, according to a report from her institution.

Taboada Zamora referred to the priority that his country gives to the attention to sargassum, which is included in Directive 1 for the. Disaster Risk Reduction Management of the Republic.

She added that they discussed early warning systems and the possible use of sargassum in agriculture and the biopharmaceutical industry, since it is a very common seaweed on all coasts and has medicinal properties due to its content of bromine, iodine and salts in the form of iodides and bromides.

Cuban mission was also represented by its embassy to Saint George, capital of Grenada, and by the environmental services company Gamma, and presented to the plenary a proposal for possible integration with a project entitled Sustainable practices and economic opportunities for sargassum from Cuba and to the Caribbean.

The developing countries reiterated their demands for a robust financial mechanism, with new and sustainable resources, capacity building, technical assistance and technology transfer, and appealed to the political will of the developed countries to take the lead in providing these funds, always according to the source.

At the same time, they argued the need for financial mechanisms and capital that would cover not only the formation of spaces, with exchange and training in mind, but also for technology transfer.