PEMSEA Countries Adopt Changwon Declaration Twenty Days After Rio+20

 

Changwon City, RO Korea — On 12 July 2012, Ministers from ten Countries of the East Asian Seas (EAS) region signed the Changwon Declaration towards an Ocean-Based Blue Economy: Moving Ahead with the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia. The signing took place during the 4th Ministerial Forum in Changwon City, RO Korea as part of the East Asian Seas Congress 2012 from 9-13 July.

 

The Declaration is the region's response to the implementation of the Rio+20 Outcomes embodied in The Future We Want, and its commitment to achieve a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

 

Twenty days after the Rio+20 declaration, Ministers and senior government officials from Cambodia, PR China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, the Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam adopted the Five-Year Regional Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) for 2012-2016. Thailand participated in the Ministerial Forum as an Observer.

 

The Changwon Declaration enables the development of an ocean-based blue economy in the region through the strengthened support for SDS-SEA implementation and other relevant initiatives, including:

 

Mainstreaming SDS-SEA objectives, targets and actions into national and subnational development and investment plans;
Shifting coastal and ocean governance from government-centered to a more inclusive approach involving all the relevant stakeholders;
Strengthening ICM application in climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR);
Building up technical and management capacity;
Targeting research on the valuation of ecosystem services;
Setting up a comprehensive knowledge management platform;
Adopting and implementing the State of the Coasts reporting system; and
Strengthening cooperation and collaboration at the local, national and regional levels.

 

The 5-year Regional SDS-SEA Implementation Plan spells out the actions towards: (a) a self-sustained regional partnership mechanism for the implementation of the SDS-SEA; and (b) national coastal and ocean policies and supporting institutional arrangements in place in at least 70% of Partner Countries, and (c) the sustainable development of coastal and marine areas and CCA covering at least 20% of the region's coastline by 2015, including:

 

Maximizing local government capacity to effectively contribute to national policies and plans for protecting and sustaining coastal and marine ecosystem services;
Realizing CCA and DRR measures in vulnerable coastal areas through ICM Programs;
Integrating sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystem services into ICM programs in biodiversity and fisheries hotspots; and
Advancing water supply conservation and management and pollution reduction and waste management through ICM programs in priority coastal and watershed areas.

 

At present, 9 PEMSEA Partner Countries have initiated the development or put in place national coastal and marine policy while all the Partner Countries have enacted 80 pieces of legislation directly supporting the implementation of the SDS-SEA. ICM coverage has reached 11% of the region's coastline and State of Coasts (SOC) reports have been completed for ICM sites in Cambodia, PR China, Lao PDR, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam, describing progress, achievements and impacts of ICM programmes.