NOWPAP representative attended the 15th Global Meeting of Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (GMRS) held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 30 September – 1 October 2013. The Second Global Land-Ocean Connections Conference (GLOC-2) was held at the same venue on 2-4 October where work plans of three global partnerships (on marine litter, nutrients and wastewater) were discussed in detail.
The GMRS was attended by Coordinators or Executive Secretaries of 9 Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans as well as by representatives of several multilateral environmental agreements and relevant agencies and initiatives: CBD, FAO, Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO), GRID-Arendal, IMO, IOC-UNESCO, UN DOALOS, etc. In 2014, UNEP Regional Seas Programme will celebrate its 40th anniversary and the next GMRS will be held in Croatia, hosted by the Mediterranean Action Plan.
GLOC-2 was attended by more than 200 participants from about 70 countries. Unfortunately, there were no participants from China, Japan, Korea and Russia (except two international NGOs based in Hong Kong/San Francisco). NOWPAP poster, leaflet and a “speed presentation” were focused on NOWPAP efforts addressing marine litter. After a side event organized by the GPO introducing their pollution component and working group, NW Pacific was added to focal regions where the GPO will implement their activities related to marine pollution (marine litter, nutrients and wastewater).
