Events

Monitoring and assessment are indispensable in identifying marine litter status and trends and its most critical impacts, and to support development, tracking and evaluation of policy and management interventions. The Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) recognizes the need to improve knowledge on the main types, sources and amounts of litter that enter the marine and coastal environment in line with globally established guidelines.

A desk review is being carried out in order to compile available information on the main sources and impacts of nutrient pollution in the coastal and marine environment; prevention and reduction commitments, targets and measures; and related monitoring and assessment in COBSEA countries. This may be used by COBSEA countries to inform development and implementation of actions addressing nutrient pollution. The study is conducted in collaboration with the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM), with funding from the Ministry of Environment, Sweden. 

The two-day virtual Regional Ocean Policy Dialogue on 15 and 16 December 2020 will explore the interlinked issues of policy coherence, sustainable ocean finance and marine plastics pollution in Southeast Asia. The Dialogue will be co-hosted by the OECD together with the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The COBSEA Secretariat is organizing a webinar series on the development and implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, in order to share views on COBSEA’s role in this context.

SEA of Solutions is an annually occurring partnership event towards solving plastic pollution at source, convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), through the SEA circular project supported by the Government of Sweden. This year’s SEA of Solutions 2020 will be organized in collaboration with the government of Viet Nam.

The regional training workshop is organized jointly with the Blue Solutions Initiative (a partnership between UNEP, GIZ, GRID-Arendal and IUCN, funded by the German Ministry of Environment) to advance marine and coastal spatial planning in the East Asian Seas region. The training will use interactive practical exercises to examine different elements of an ecosystem-based marine and coastal spatial planning process, in particular for protecting blue economy assets and their climate resilience.

The 24th Intergovernmental Meeting of COBSEA adopted the revised COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI). This includes Terms of Reference for the COBSEA Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML), promoting the implementation of the RAP MALI and providing strategic and technical support to the IGM and COBSEA Secretariat.

The COBSEA Secretariat is hosting a webinar series to discuss the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The first webinar focuses on UNEP’s work with and through Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans on development, implementation and tracking related to the Framework. The webinar will provide an opportunity to discuss further efforts through COBSEA. 

Please see the concept note for further information.

The Regional Workshop on COBSEA Follow-up and Review of Ocean-related Sustainable Development Goals was held from 11-12 December 2019 in Manila, Philippines. The workshop was organized by COBSEA in collaboration with the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources to guide the Secretariat in the finalization of the COBSEA SDG Outlook document based on national reviews and consultations, for consideration at the 25th Intergovernmental Meeting of COBSEA.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held a Regional Policy Dialogue on “Harnessing the sustainable ocean economy in South East Asia” as part of its work to support partner countries in the region. The Dialogue was held on 3-4 December in Bali, Indonesia and co-hosted with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investments of Indonesia, in co-operation with COBSEA. The Dialogue provided an opportunity to exchange on policy challenges and solutions to promote a sustainable ocean economy in South East Asia.