The United Nations Atmosphere Meeting (UNEA-7) adopted the decision “Strengthening the global response to the massive influx of Sargassum blooms,” drafted and offered by the Dominican Republic and co-sponsored by Barbados and Jamaica, marking a milestone for the nation’s environmental diplomacy and the Larger Caribbean area.

This decision constitutes the primary instrument adopted by the UNEA to handle the phenomenon of Sargassum, and the primary decision offered by the Dominican Republic to this physique, consolidating years of diplomatic work to spotlight the rising impression of the huge blooms of this macroalga.

It’s price remembering that President Luis Abinader highlighted the urgency within the Caribbean to discover a resolution to the arrival of those algae on seashores, their impression on tourism, and the way the Dominican Republic has been addressing this problem.

The textual content acknowledges that huge influxes of Sargassum characterize a ‘serious and growing socio-economic and environmental problem that disproportionately affects the Greater Caribbean and West Africa region, with serious repercussions for the economy, sustainable development, tourism, marine biodiversity, fisheries, livelihoods, and public health.’ It additionally highlights that the phenomenon poses an rising problem for different areas of the world.

By this decision, UNEA requests the Government Director of the United Nations Atmosphere Programme (UNEP) to arrange a complete report assessing present initiatives on Sargassum and to convene a high-level assembly to research its findings and strengthen worldwide cooperation.

The Dominican Republic performed a central position within the negotiation course of, facilitating consensus and articulating the pursuits of probably the most affected international locations.

Due to this fact, the pinnacle of the Dominican delegation and lead negotiator, Claudia Taboada, Minister Counselor on the Everlasting Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, acknowledged that, “this result is the fruit of more than four years of effort to place the issue of Sargassum on the global agenda. Although the final text does not fully reflect our initial ambition, it represents a decisive step: it is the country’s first resolution before the UNEA and the first global resolution on sargassum.”