News

Upon request from the youth group of SHINTO shrine priests in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, the NOWPAP Coordinator made an online presentation on UN, UNEP, Regional Seas Programme, and NOWPAP on 23 January 2024.

This group consisted of priests under 40 working for SHINTO shrines in Toyama Prefecture, Japan.

A total of 12 participants joined the 2-hour presentation, covering the overall introduction of UN, UNEP, Regional Seas Programme, and NOWPAP.

On Tue, Feb 21, 2023, the Heads and Coordinators of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans had the privilege to meet with UNEP Executive Director, Ms Inger Anderson.

NOWPAP was invited to the 2022 International Organization Advisory Group meeting, which was organized by the Busan Metropolitan Government and the Busan Foundation for International Cooperation on 1 November 2022 in the Westin Chosun Hotel in Busan. Representatives of thirteen international organizations in the Republic of Korea attended the meeting.

Regional Seas Organizations and Regional Fisheries Bodies gathered in the 3rd Meeting of the Sustainable Ocean Initiative Gl

NOWPAP was invited to the marine policy session of the World Ocean Forum on 27 October 2022 in Busan, Republic of Korea. The 2022 World Ocean Forum is the 16th edition of the Davos Forum in the ocean field. The Forum was organized by the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, the Busan Metropolitan Government, and Busan Daily News. The theme of the Forum is "Ocean as Uniters, Pursuing Global Cooperation for the good of the planet”.

NOWPAP participated in the 2022 Annual Conference of the North Pacific Marine Science Organisation and updated the meeting participants on its activities at the Marine Environmental Quality Committee meeting in Busan, the Republic of Korea, on 28 September 2022.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) co-organized a Technical Session titled “Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Global Action on Marine Litter in the East Asian Seas and Northwest Pacific’  on 20 September 2022 at the 7th Internatio

The public symposium “Future Action of Science and Policy on Global Chemicals Management towards 2030 Agenda and Beyond” was organised in Toyama, Japan on June 13-16, 2022, by three Societies on Environmental Chemicals, Japan Society of Environmental Chemistry (JEC), Japan Society of Endocrine Disruptors Research (JSEDR), and Japan Society of Environmental Toxicology (JSET).

(Stockholm+50) is an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022.

The 22nd Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans was held in a hybrid format on 25-27 May 2022 in  Mahé, Seychelles. Eighteen Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans, including NOWPAP and global Multilateral Environmental Agreements representatives, attended the meeting.

NOWPAP was invited to attend the Second General Assembly of the 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee and the Forum on Smart Ocean organized by the Committee in collaboration with the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Fuzhou Municipal People's Government of China on 17-18 May 2022.

2022 Sustainable Development Transformation Forum

Building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and fostering the

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a practicable tool to provide information on biodiversity. This tool has been developed in the field of molecular biology and has big potential to reduce the time and effort for modern biological monitoring. The rapid technological development in eDNA analysis has happened during the last decade.

The UNEP-coordinated Regional Seas Programme (RSP), which includes globally eighteen individual Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAP), is one of the key comparative advantages of UNEP in the field of the Regional Ocean Governance (ROG).

Key Points:

     -Introduction of a Google Earth Engine app that allows a globally consistent assessment of eutrophication in a way never done before

As a follow up to the Marine Regions Forum 2019 (October 2019) with the purpose to develop clear recommendations, catalyse actionable outputs, and build partnerships for stronger regional ocean governance in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water", and

The representatives from the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation pledged to further enhance the regional cooperation on marine and coastal environmental protection in the Third Extraordinary Intergovernmental Meeting of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP).

A courtesy visit to the newly elected Governor of Toyama Prefecture, Mr Hachiro NITTA, was paid by the NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr Yegor Volovik. The meeting was held on January 18, 2021, at the Toyama Prefecture.

The 2020 NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points Meeting, organized virtually by the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit on December 3, 2020, discussed how to revise the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.

Policymakers, scientists, officers from international and non-governmental organizations gathered virtually on December 2, 2020 to discuss how to improve the regional cooperation in the prevention, monitoring and removal of marine litter in the Northwest Pacific Region.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) presented its efforts in addressing marine litter in the first Incheon International Ocean Forum (IIOF), which was held on 19-20 November 2020.

UNEP and EC organized a virtual workshop on the Regional Seas Programmes and the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework on 27-28 October 2020.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) introduced their eutrophication assessment and seagrass mapping tools in the 9th Geo for Good Summit held virtually on 20-21 October 2020.

NOWPAP congratulated the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) Project for its regional governance achievements on protecting the marine environment in the 5th Interim YSLME Commission Council (ICC) meeting which was held on October 19, 2020 virtually. Dr. Yegor Volovik stressed that YSLME is a long-time partner of NOWPAP. The two organizations have cooperated closely in the fields, such as addressing marine litter and biodiversity conservation. And the completing of a project is a new beginning for cross borders cooperation.