Regional Actions for Operationalizing the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Blue Economy

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ASEAN Regional Webinar Series on Sustainable Blue Economy: Session 2

“Regional Actions for Operationalizing the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Blue Economy”

Co-organized by: UNEP, ANCORS and ASEAN Secretariat

Introduction

The Sustainable Ocean Economy or the Blue Economy has been recognized as a multifaceted and crosscutting concept that drives economic growth and innovation while ensuring ocean sustainability and rule-based ocean governance in the ASEAN Region. The leaders of ASEAN Community have committed to promote the Blue Economy through the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Blue Economy, adopted on October 2021 at the 38^th ASEAN Summit. In the Declaration, the Blue Economy is defined as the sustainable, resilient and inclusive use, governance, management and conservation of oceans, seas as well as marine and coastal resources and ecosystems for economic growth across various sectors. ASEAN member states are committed to promote and advance the blue economy in their respective countries within the framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ASEAN Charter.

UNEP in collaboration with partners, has been supporting countries in Southeast Asia in their transition towards the Sustainable Blue Economy, by enhancing decision-making, enabling conditions and capacities to develop and implement sustainable, climate-resilient and inclusive blue economy polices, strategies and solutions, by applying the Sustainable Blue Economy Transition Framework. As part of this initiative, UNEP, in collaboration with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Australia, supported by the ASEAN secretariat, jointly organize webinar series on the Sustainable Blue Economy. The first webinar, organized on June 30, 2022, focused on identifying the priorities and capacity needs of ASEAN member states on the Blue Economy.

Key issues discuss at the first webinar include the following:

1. Effective coordination among the relevant sectors of blue economy is a major challenge;
2. Capacity and awareness building on blue economy is increasingly important;
3. Some of the ASEAN countries have already initiated activities on blue economy but institutional arrangements and long-term vision for blue economy are still limited; and
4. Regional collaboration for sharing experiences and successes among ASEAN countries is highly recommended, among others.

Building on the outcome of the 1^st webinar, the 2^nd webinar will focus on showcasing national level efforts within ASEAN to transition towards the Sustainable Blue Economy, and identifying the actions towards operationalizing the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on the Blue Economy through learning from national, regional and global initiatives.

Objectives

Specific objectives of the 2^nd webinar include the following:

1. Showcase existing national level efforts of ASEAN member states in transitioning towards the Sustainable Blue Economy; 
2. Consolidate ASEAN member countries’ shared priority areas for enhancing regional cooperation; and
3. Identify opportunities and concrete steps towards operationalizing the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Blue Economy.

Participants

Representatives of ASEAN member states, ASEAN secretariat, international and regional organizations, national entities, including non-governmental organizations, private sector, who are engaged in the activities related to the Blue Economy.

Registration

Please fill out the registration form for this Webinar at https://bit.ly/3S8dpEb. A zoom link will be sent upon the completion of the form.