Colombia names the blue economy a priority of its bioeconomy agenda at a bioeconomy week in Barranquilla

28 October 2026

At the second Semana de la Bioeconomia Colombiana in Barranquilla, Colombia's Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible named the blue economy a strategic priority of the bioeconomy pillar of its Agenda ABC, which stands for agua, biodiversidad y comunidades, that is water, biodiversity and communities. The blue economy covers seas, oceans, rivers and lakes, with economic activity meant to conserve those ecosystems at the same time. The ministry said Colombia's mangroves store about 462 millones de toneladas of carbon dioxide equivalent, of which 90,2 per cent sits in the soil and 9,8 per cent in above-ground biomass, and that the country has one of the largest mangrove covers in the world and ranks fourth in the Americas by mangrove extent. Seagrass meadows surveyed in five Caribbean zones, Alta Guajira, Media Guajira, San Andres, Bahia de Cartagena and Tayrona, hold an estimated 52 millones de toneladas of carbon dioxide equivalent in their soils, mostly under Thalassia testudinum meadows. The measures listed include sustainable fishing, cutting plastic pollution, full implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the Programa Nacional de Cupos Transables de Emision and a national jurisdictional REDD+ programme. Fabio Arjona is the minister.