A new global coalition for seaweed has been announced at the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) on 13 June 2025 marking a milestone for ocean and climate resilience, pollution mitigation and equitable and sustainable trade.
Echoing the call by UN Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD’s) Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan to promote stronger governance of the ocean economy and strengthen multilateralism, UNOC3 brought with it a tangible legacy: the creation of the United Nations Global Seaweed Initiative (UNGSI) — a voluntary coalition for the safe and science-based scaling of seaweed across climate, biodiversity, food security, trade and pollution agendas.
Riding the tide: The seaweed moment has arrived
Seaweed’s uses range from food, feed and animal care, plant biostimulants, cosmetics, and biodegradable packaging – all nature-based substitutes and alternatives for plastics and oil-based or synthetic chemicals. It sequesters carbon, reduces livestock methane emissions, improves coastal water quality and supports marine biodiversity, whilst generating income and employment in communities facing declining fish stocks.
Yet, despite its potential, the seaweed sector remains fragmented, underdeveloped and largely unregulated, with women, youth and small-scale producers – who drive much of its farming and processing and who are custodians of the traditional knowledge of seaweed’s use for innovation – are often cut-off from markets, finance and technical support.
Setting the course for sustainable use of seaweed: The UNGSI's mandate in brief
Led by the Republic of Madagascar, the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of France, in collaboration with UNCTAD, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Global Compact, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC–UNESCO) and the Global Seaweed Coalition, the UNGSI will help governments to diversify seaweed as a marine-based solution that can boost inclusive economic opportunity through blue and circular bioeconomy value chains and roadmaps. As a collaborative platform to enhance coordination across the UN system and partners to achieve SDGs 3, 5, 8 and 14, it aims to:
- Develop and harmonise safety standards, traceability systems and policy frameworks,
- Integrate seaweed into national regulations, trade regimes and pollution-reduction strategies, and
- Mobilise blue finance and capacity building to support seaweed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
A side event showcasing seaweeds’ multifaceted contributions to the SDGs at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) 2025 will be held in New York on 16 July 2025.
From Geneva to Nice and back: SMEP’s lifecycle approach to ocean action
In the lead-up to UNOC3, SMEP’s knowledge and groundwork on marine pollution and material innovation expertise underpinned the 5th UN Ocean Forum on trade-related aspects of SDG 14 in Geneva, Switzerland on 3-5 March 2025. Co-convened by UNCTAD and partners, the Forum featured SMEP’s evidence-based case studies and technical pilots as proof-of-concept for UNGSI. SMEP also organised and supported sessions on trade policy tools for low-carbon and marine-based products and scaling innovations to reduce marine pollution of all kinds.
In partnership with UNCTAD’s Ocean Economy and Fisheries Programme, SMEP co-organised and launched the inaugural Marine-based Products and Services (MAPS) Expo at the Oceans Forum. The Expo featured global seaweed innovators showcasing frontier materials and non-plastic substitutes produced through innovative marine-based approaches and the expansion of seaweed and marine-based materials for biodegradable packaging, textiles, and food innovation (An iteration is currently being planned by SMEP and other relevant UNCTAD programmes and partners for the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland on 20-23 October, 2025).
The UNGSI mirrors priorities set out in the official 5th UN Ocean Forum Recommendations for sustainable ocean economies, notably:
- Recommendation 10: Promote innovative marine-based products
- Recommendation 11: Facilitate trade for sustainable blue business
- Recommendation 12: Establish global support for seaweed and biomaterials
Scaling circular seaweed economy and governance to curb plastic pollution
For SMEP, the creation of the UNGSI affirms the Programme’s convening role and long-standing support for safe, scalable and trade-aligned circular alternatives to plastics, especially through innovations in natural and biodegradable materials, including marine-based substitutes. SMEP’s work on material safety, circularity standards and upstream industrial transformation directly complements the UNGSI’s ambitions to provide policy-ready models that integrate seaweed into national sustainable materials strategies, trade frameworks and environmental safeguards to reduce pollution in line with the global efforts to achieve targets of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
By showcasing its upstream pilots and lifecycle-oriented models, at the UN Ocean Forum, UNOC3 and beyond, SMEP has continuously supported positioning UNCTAD as a go-to source of evidence-based, trade-sensitive expertise at the WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) and at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.2) to be held in Geneva, Switzerland on 5-14 August 2025.
SMEP’s proven interventions – from agri-waste fibre substitutes and marine-based alternatives to advanced recycling systems that contribute to local livelihoods – directly support the treaty’s mandate to address plastic pollution across the full lifecycle and inform the subsidiary body’s development of technical guidance and assessments. Moreover, UNCTAD, through SMEP, now maintains dedicated trade databases on global plastics and non-plastic substitutes trade, ensuring negotiators have robust market data to support non-trade-distorting measures. This convergence of regulatory tools, trade measures and manufacturing innovation gives developing countries concrete pathways to reduce pollution and prevent leakage, inform global standards and uphold equitable and differentiated responsibilities.
UNGSI is open for membership and is expected to be formally launched during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2025 in New York.
For more information on SMEP’s upstream pilots and lifecycle orientated models, see SMEP-led UNCTAD publications here or follow the image links below.
Maria Durleva
Programme Management Officer, SMEP-UNCTAD