The concept of blue economy is evolving as the ocean space is changing dramatically, driven by innovations, new industries, shifting demands, and pressures from changing environment and climate.

The workshop aimed to:

a. create understanding of the blue economy through country presentations of ocean-based and ocean‐related economic activities, and their contribution to national economies;

b. examine the sustainability of such activities through valuation of ecosystem services and damages;

c. identify on‐going investments in innovative practices and technologies that contribute to blue economy development, address environmental and resource degradation and climate change impacts, and make economic activities more environmentally sound;

d. discuss the development of a road map and policy recommendations for institutionalizing ocean economy and environment accounting, promoting blue economy investments and innovations, formulating a blue economy approach to sustainable development of coasts and oceans, and monitoring and reporting progress and gaps.

The Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM) was launched in 2009 to address the global challenges faced by the mismanagement of nutrients and nutrient over‐enrichment. It is a global partnership of governments, scientists, policymakers, private sector, NGOs and international organizations. It responds to the ‘nutrient challenge’ — how to reduce the amount of excess nutrients in the global environment consistent with global development. The GPNM reflects a need for strategic, global advocacy to trigger governments and stakeholders in moving towards more efficient and effective nitrogen and phosphorous use and lower losses associated with human activities. It provides a platform for governments, UN agencies, scientists and the private sector to forge a common agenda, mainstreaming best practices and integrated assessments, so that policy and investment responses/options are effectively ‘nutrient proofed’. The GPNM also provides a space where countries and other stakeholders can forge more co‐operative work across the variety of international and regional fora and agencies dealing with nutrients, including the importance of impact assessment work. The work of the GPNM is advanced by a Steering Committee, a sub‐set of the Partnership members and is supported by the GPA Unit of the Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Branch of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation of UNEP, which serves as the Secretariat to the Steering Committee.

The GPNM, in collaboration with the hosts of the 2015 East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, the Government of Viet Nam through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and Viet Nam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) hosted a Technical and Policy Workshop on Sustainable Nutrient Management. This workshop, convened within the EAS Congress on 18th of November 2015, showcased the main technical deliverables of the GEF‐funded Global Nutrient Cycle Project, and focused on policy and mainstreaming of the nutrient management agenda within countries of the Asia subregion under the aegis of an Asian Regional Nutrient Management Platform of the GPNM. The technical session of the workshop presented the state‐of‐the‐art in the science and understanding of the global nutrient challenge and introduced management tools designed for technical (and policy) advisory personnel. The Policy session reviewed the relevance of the nutrient management challenge in relation to sustainable development, food security and environmental quality, presented the global agenda for nutrient management and its relationship to regional development agendas, and explored options for strengthening of the GPNM Asia Platform.

The Fifth Senior Government Officials’ Meeting (SGOM) was held at the Son Tra Hall of the Furama Resort in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on 20 November 2015. Senior government officials from 11 PEMSEA Partner Countries participated in the meeting, namely: Cambodia, PR China, DPR Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor‐Leste and Viet Nam.

The workshop aims to: (a) review the application and benefits derived from transference and effective use of good Knowledge Management (KM) practices and platforms in various projects; (b) identify the potential use of such innovations in other projects and by other sectors; (c) determine how a regional KM platform can serve to improve access to, and scale up investments in, good practices; (d) develop ‘Best Practice Guidelines’ for regional KM in a blue economy based on the collective input and group discussions; and (e) capture the discussed KM ideas, processes and products using a visual storytelling approach.

Session 1:

A Decade of Partnerships in Sustainable Development of the Seas of East Asia:

Synergies and Achievements

Workshop 1:

Managing Risks in Climate Change and Disasters in the Seas of East Asia

17‐18 November 2015

Co‐convening Agencies:

Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (KOEM) and

Korea Environment Institute (KEI)

Chair:

Mr. N.M.S.I. Arambepola, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)

Co‐chairs:

Dr. Chang Man, KOEM

Dr. Park Kwang Kook, KEI

The Special Partnership Council Meeting was held at Ocean Ballroom of Furama Resort Hotel, Da Nang, Viet Nam on November 18, 2015. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Viet Nam hosted the event, which was attended by representatives from 11 Country Partners and 16 Non‐Country Partners. Representatives from the UNDP, UNEP, the GEF, the World Bank, CBD Secretariat, WorldFish, GIZ, and several universities also participated in the meeting.

The participants were welcomed by Ambassador Mary Seet‐Cheng, Chair of EAS Partnership Council, Mr. Chu Pham Ngoc Hien, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Vietnam and Mr. Stephen Adrian Ross, Executive Director of PEMSEA. Dr. Chua Thai‐Eng, Chair Emeritus of the EAS Partnership Council, delivered a keynote on legacies of PEMSEA and future directions. The meeting witnessed the partnership development of PEMSEA with signing of agreements with Burapha University (Thailand), Prince of Songkla University (Thailand), National University of Timor‐Leste, Oriental University of Timor‐Leste and Ocean College of Zhejiang University (China) to become PEMSEA ICM Learning Centres. PEMSEA also signed an MOU with DPR Korea to expand ICM programs in the country. UNDP, the GEF, OPRI‐SPF, the World Bank, CBD Secretariat, ACB and WorldFish made statements on the accomplishments of PEMSEA,  opportunities of the organizational development and future areas of collaboration under the framework of the SDS‐SEA 2015.

The Fourth East Asian Seas Youth Forum (YF4) was one of the special events of the EAS Congress 2015, which was held from 16‐21 November 2015 in Da Nang City, Viet Nam. The EAS Congress and the Youth Forum were co‐organized by the Government of Viet Nam through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), Viet Nam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI), City Government of Da Nang and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).

Carrying the theme, “Charting the Future We Want: Engaging Young Champions for the Ocean Beyond 2015,” the YF4 gathered young leaders from the region to showcase their initiatives contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, as well as enhance their skills and strengthen their role in the sustainable development of the oceans and coasts.

The six Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) and subregional seas of East Asian region are experiencing physical, ecological and socioeconomic changes associated with infrastructure development, urbanization, extreme climate events, land and sea based activities, and population increase. International cooperation at regional and LME levels has facilitated in many ways collaborative responses among countries to the challenges and uncertainties with countries’ adoption of ocean policies and measures in alignment with the regional action programs such as the strategic action programme (SAP) and regional sustainable development strategy.

What are the drivers that have shaped the regional coast and ocean governance? What achievements and impact have these regional governance mechanisms made in addressing overfishing, eutrophication, loss of coastal and marine biodiversity and other transboundary issues in the last decade? What are the gaps in our understanding of the coasts and oceans? What are the innovative implementation and governance mechanisms for SAPs and the regional strategy? What should the collaborating countries do in terms of policy and regulatory framework and institutional arrangements to make these regional mechanisms and initiatives work more effectively? This workshop is designed to facilitate regional and national initiatives to respond to the ocean agenda enshrined in the Future We Want at Rio+20 and SDGs.