The Regional Kick-off Conference of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2021) (Ocean Decade) in the Western Pacific and its adjacent areas was organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, and the Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO on 25-26 November 2021.
Over a thousand participants from governmental agencies, research institutes, international organizations, industry and business sectors, NGOs, civil society and the media attended the event. The event aimed to enhance the partnerships among various stakeholders in the region in initiating co-design of transformative ocean science solutions to the Ocean Decade Challenges.
The conference covered topics including multiple impacts on coastal ecosystems and solutions; marine biodiversity in Indo-Western Pacific region; remote sensing to coastal habitat mapping and monitoring; marine mammal and sea turtle studies; Asian Marginal Seas; coral reef resilience; forecasting and service system for a predicted ocean; marine spatial planning in the Western Pacific; marine heat waves over the monsoonal ocean areas; plastic and microplastic transport from rivers to the ocean; harmful algal blooms sciences for societal applications; the Cooperative Study of Kuroshio and Adjacent Regions; direction of science and technology for the blue economy; coastal resilience and adaptation; A regional programme integrating science, management and society to support ocean sustainability; societal applications of ocean data assimilation and forecast; and science communication.
NOWPAP was invited to the event. It is critical to strengthen the cooperation between NOWPAP and the WESTPAC during many planned activities under the aegis of the Ocean Decade.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2021-2030 to be the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development on 5 December 2017. The global launch of the Ocean Decade was held in Berlin on 1 June 2021 hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in collaboration with the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
