Organizations Address Issues Affecting Sustainable Development in the EAS Region

Manila, Philippines — Three organizations have recently joined hands with PEMSEA. The International Union for Conservation of Nature-Asia Regional Office (IUCN-ARO), the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) became non-Country partners of PEMSEA during a special meeting of the EAS Partnership Council at the East Asian Sea Congress 2009.

 

The Council also welcomed The World Bank as a sponsoring organization of PEMSEA. With the aim of reducing pollution of coastal and marine waters in the EAS region, the World Bank has been implementing the GEF-supported Investment Fund for Pollution Reduction in the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia (IF). So far, US$35 million from the IF has been committed to individual projects, with a total co-financing of more than US$600 million from the WB and participating countries. In addition, Memoranda of Understanding for mutual collaboration for the implementation of the SDS-SEA were signed with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the USAID's Philippine Environmental Governance Project (Eco-Gov). SCBD will collaborate with PEMSEA on a regional scale on information sharing, capacity development, policy and advocacy. ECOGOV and PEMSEA) will collaborate in the Philippines to share knowledge, information, tools, best practices and resources in support of capacity development and the effective implementation of EO 533, which adopts the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) as a national strategy for sustainable development of marine and coastal resources.