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Collab 1: Ocean Roundtable Dialogue (RTD) “Towards a Blue Economy Pathway for the East Asian Seas”

PUBLICATION DATE:

Wednesday, July 07, 2021

PUBLICATION TYPE:

Meeting Documents

STATUS:

Only Available Online

DESCRIPTION:

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.