Seaweeds and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 3-2022 and beyond

Resumen

As environmental doomsday predictions become uncomfortably close to reality, the world must accelerate actions aimed at providing solutions, both for the life of the planet and for the present and future generations of people living on it. The United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which constitute a collaborative roadmap outlining global issues that require immediate attention.These goals are designed to lead to actions that end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 (i.e., 8 years from now), all people enjoy peace and prosperity. This chapter focuses primarily on goals 2 and 3, and it provides highlights with respect to the pivotable roles that seaweeds can play to help achieve them. Specifically, seaweeds can help end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and ensure healthy lives and well-being for all. Radically improving agricultural sustainability is a high priority, and seaweeds and their extracts can make important contributions to food production systems (i.e., from field to fork). Key nutritional components present in marine macroalgae offer opportunities to displace or supplement some ingredients in prepared or processed foods in favor of improved, broader nutrition. Research on the utilization of seaweeds in agriculture is also highlighted, and calls to action to meet the SDGs are loud and increasing, and seaweeds can be a viable part of the solution.