The 27th PEMSEA EC Meeting was held virtually on 26 October 2021 through a Zoom conference call. Representatives from 10 PEMSEA country partners (CPs)—namely Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam—attended the meeting along with representatives from PEMSEA non-country partners (NCPs), namely; International Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) Center, IPIECA, Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (KOEM), Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), Ocean Policy Research Institute – The Sasakawa Foundation (OPRI-SPF), Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), and PEMSEA Network of Local Governments (PNLG). The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) served as the Secretariat for the meeting.

The GEF-UNDP-IMO GloFouling Partnerships Project is aimed at catalyzing government action, industry innovation and capacity building in order to reduce the transfer of Invasive Aquatic Species (IAS) from international shipping and other marine sectors in a holistic approach. While the reach is global, all the intended outcomes, outputs and activities are directly geared towards the national and regional levels with a view to improving maritime institutions, technologies and operations as well as achieving improved monitoring and impact mitigation in the participating developing countries. The Regional Seminar on Biofouling Management and Invasive Aquatic Species was jointly organized by the GloFouling Partnerships Project and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) on June 23, 2021 via the Zoom platform to:

• Raise awareness on the issue of minimizing the transfer of invasive aquatic species through biofouling and capacitate government representatives to participate in future meetings and negotiations on the issue;
• Exchange information and knowledge on biofouling management, approaches, best practices and innovation that are currently available in the region;
• Identify existing challenges, knowledge and technical gaps in the region; and
• Examine and consider elements and options for regional cooperation and coordination of biofouling management measures that could feed into a strategy to promote regional harmonization of biofouling management.

The regional seminar served as a preparatory meeting for a regional workshop that will be conducted later in the year with the goal of defining a regional strategy for biofouling management.

Recognizing the importance of strengthening national and sub-regional systems for oil spill preparedness and response in the Gulf of Thailand, the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) in collaboration with the IOPC Funds, ITOPF and International Group of P & I Clubs organized a 3 day virtual training workshop on Claims and Compensation for Oil Pollution from Ships on April 20-22 via Zoom.

The workshop aimed to capacitate relevant personnel on the technical aspects of claims and compensation for oil pollution from ships specifically in the preparation and submission of claims. At the end of the 3 day workshop, participants were expected to come up with measures on how claims and compensation for oil pollution in respective countries be made more efficient.

Claims and compensation from oil spills has been a challenging task both for governments and claimants where the oil spill incident occurs and to the insurers and organizations, which provide compensation for oil pollution damage resulting from spills. Hence, this training workshop is one of the priority activities in the Gulf of Thailand Strategic Action Plan 2017- 2021. However, recognizing the importance of this subject to other countries, invitation to the workshop was extended to the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers and PEMSEA Network of Local Governments, who are directly involved in oil spill related programs.

This event is part of a series of national inception workshops being held with participating countries of the International Climate Initiative/ International Maritime Organization/Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (IKI/IMO/PEMSEA) Project on Reducing Maritime Transport Emissions in East and Southeast Countries (Blue Solutions Project). This is a follow-on to the regional kick-off meeting for the preparation phase of the overall project held on 18 June 2021. These national inception workshops will initiate the country-specific discussions on the preparation of the full proposal for a pilot project within each country.

The national inception workshop for the Philippines was held virtually from 12-13 August 2021. It was jointly organized by the Department of Transportation (DoTr), which serves as the National Focal Agency for the Project, the IMO, and PEMSEA.

The aims of this workshop were to:

• Introduce the scope, objectives, and components of the Blue Solutions project, including the timeline and implementing arrangements for the national project preparation;
• Understand the principal targets and challenges to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in the maritime sector in the Philippines; 
• Discuss the identification of a national GHG reduction pilot demonstration project in the Philippines; and 
• Delve into the national assessment of GHG emissions in the maritime sector in the Philippines.
   

The national inception workshops in participating countries including Vietnam are follow-on activities to the regional kick-off meeting for the preparation phase of the International Climate Initiative/ International Maritime Organization/Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (IKI/IMO/PEMSEA) Project on Reducing Maritime Transport Emissions in East and Southeast Countries (Blue Solutions Project)  that was conducted on June 18, 2021 to initiate the country-specific discussions on the preparation of the full proposal for the aforementioned project.

The national inception workshop for Vietnam was held virtually on August 19 and 20, 2021 and jointly organized by the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VINAMARINE), which serves as the National Focal Agency for the Project, the IMO and PEMSEA.

The 1.5-day national inception workshop was organized to:

• Introduce the scope, objectives and components, including timeline and implementing arrangements for the national project preparation;
• Understand the principal targets and challenges to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction in the maritime sector in Vietnam; 
• Discuss the identification of a national GHG reduction pilot demonstration project in Vietnam; and 
• Delve into the national assessment of GHG emissions in the maritime sector in Vietnam.
   

Maritime transport and its associated activities, including the operation of ships, ports, cargo handling equipment, and trucks are a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other pollutants emissions. Around 90% of the global trade is transported by sea and 60% of this trade volume passes through the seas and ports of Asia, with the South China Sea carrying an estimated one-third of global shipping. Heavy cargo vehicles account for less than 10% of all road vehicles but contribute more than 50% of the transport sector’s CO2 emissions in Asia. East and Southeast Asian countries play globally significant roles in maritime transport, supporting shipbuilding industries, containing the world’s busiest ports, and having high marine freight import and export levels. Based on trends showing increasing trade and therefore increased shipping demand, emissions from maritime transport (CH4, CO, CO2, NOx) may increase three to four-fold by 2050.

Countries in the East Asian region are already undertaking climate change mitigation actions, and have committed to such efforts in regional and international programs and agreements such as the ASEAN Transport Strategic Plan 2018-2025, PEMSEA’s Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), the Initial IMO GHG Strategy, the IMO Resolution on Cooperation between Shipping and Port Sectors on GHG emissions, as well as the UN SDGs, specifically SDG 3 on Good Health and Well-Being, SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13 on Climate Action, SDG 14 Life Below Water, and SDG 17 on Partnerships for the Goals.

As countries continue to shift their maritime transport sector towards a low-carbon future, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) in collaboration with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) propose to assist them through the preparation of a five-year, EUR 15 million project entitled ‘Reducing Maritime Transport Emissions in East and Southeast Asian Countries’ (Blue Solutions).

This report provides the highlights of the kick-off meeting which was organized with the following objectives:

• to introduce the proposed project’s objectives, components, and project preparation team to the relevant stakeholders in the region;

• to lay the groundwork for the succeeding bilateral meetings with countries that will take place in the months of July-August 2021;

• to seek feedback, respond to questions, and generate expressions of support and interest for the project.

Just over 100 individuals participated in the event, coming from 10 countries (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam) as well as a project team from IMO, PEMSEA, and representatives from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

The 13th East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council (PC) Meeting was held virtually on 28-29 July 2021 through a Zoom conference call. Representatives from 10 PEMSEA country partners (CPs) namely Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam attended the meeting. Also in attendance were representatives from PEMSEA non-country partners (NCPs), namely the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), International Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) Center, IPIECA, Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation (KOEM), Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), Ocean Policy Research Institute, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF), Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and PEMSEA Network of Local Governments (PNLG).

Representatives from the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers (PNLC), China-PEMSEA Sustainable Coastal Management Cooperation Center (CPC), and Provincial Administration of Preah Sihanouk (SHV) Cambodia) participated as guests. The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) served as the Secretariat for the meeting.

The Ocean RTD entitled “Towards a Blue Economy Pathway for the East Asian Seas” was organized by Partnerships in Environment Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). This online event was conducted on 8 June 2021 (World Ocean Day) and was the first of a series of collabs that will culminate in the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2021 on 1-2 December 2021.

For many countries worldwide, the ongoing health crisis has disrupted many people’s lives, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged, and unemployment rates soared along with a host of environmental challenges as countries focus on response and recovery efforts, making it challenging to achieve international, regional and national commitments on climate change, biodiversity conservation, marine pollution, and other aspects of coastal and marine governance. The pandemic has resulted in the temporary shutdown or restriction of activities in many ocean-related industries such as fisheries, transport, manufacturing, and tourism. Negative environmental impacts such as the proliferation of plastic pollution and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUUF) and the reduction of coastal monitoring and enforcement activities were also reported.

PEMSEA calls for the mainstreaming of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient ocean economy as an alternative development pathway for economic recovery and as a significant driver of economic growth and progress by creating employment and enhancing investment opportunities while at the same time protecting natural capital, enhancing resource efficiency, and reducing carbon footprint.

The RTD aimed to:

a) Discuss the impacts of the global pandemic on the state of ocean and coastal economies in the EAS region;

b) Explore the challenges and opportunities with case studies of best practices in accelerating the region’s transformation into a blue economy against the backdrop of national plans for post-pandemic recovery; and

c) Present policy recommendations that will feed into the development of the EAS Roadmap to 2030.

The program and link to the group photos and Youtube recording can be found in Annexes 1 and 2, respectively. Presentation materials/speeches are embedded as links throughout the proceedings.

The event was participated by Dr. Chua Thia-Eng (Chair Emeritus of the EAS Partnership Council); other officers and members of the Council; and representatives from the youth sector, national and local governments, academe, research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector, and other development partners from within and beyond the EAS region.