Los Cabos, BCS. _ The ocean is usually seen as an opportunity to conservation and restorationbut it should also be viewed through the economic opportunity it generates.
The sustainability is the new economic modelhe said Carlos Eduardo Correa.
The ocean generates approximately 2.5 trillion dollars annually, as it accounts for 80 percent of global trade, generates 300 million jobs in fisheries and aquaculture, and 40 percent of the global population depends on the protein that comes from the sea, according to Alfredo Girón NavaHead of the Action Agenda for the Oceans in the World Economic Forummoderator of the Oceans and Cities panel: Perspectives and challenges.
This was well understood by Eduardo Correa, Senior Member of Conservation Internationalwhen he was Mayor of MonteriaColombia, between 2012 and 2015.
"In Monteria we identified an element that could be the transforming element of the city and that was the Sinu River, giving the river a new face, giving the river back to the city and the people, so for 20 years a new economy and a new economic model were generated around this vision of the city," he said at the Summit 2024 of the Sea of Cortez Forum.
The former mayor said that the sewage routes leading to the city's sewage treatment plant were changed. Sinu River and by natural effect towards the sea, a sanitation project was elaborated, it became a public space with new infrastructure and tourism plans around the river.
The private sector identified opportunities with new business models with a vision of sustainabilityIn addition, poverty was reduced by 13 percent over a four-year period and the employment rate dropped by 7 percent.
"I believe that sustainability and prosperity are not separate. This is not a trend, but a model. This is the new economic model," he said, assuring that it became a public policy that after 9 years since he finished his term as mayor of Monteria is still the basis of public policies in that region of Colombia.