Blue Economy Bulletin June 2021

PUBLICATION DATE:

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

PUBLICATION TYPE:

Magazines and Newsletters

STATUS:

Only Available Online

DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the PEMSEA Blue Economy Bulletin for June 2021. PEMSEA organized a number of online events this month, starting with an Ocean Roundtable Dialogue on World Ocean Day, with a focus on supporting collaborative actions to harness the blue economy in post-pandemic recovery plans. It was followed by a GESI conference organized by UNDP/GEF/ATSEA-2. Finally, we hosted two maritime transport related seminars with the IMO, the Regional Awareness Raising Seminar on the impact of biofouling on the marine environment in the seas of East Asia and a kickoff for an IMO/PEMSEA project supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) focused on tackling the global challenge of maritime transport emissions.

This month, we would also like to re-issue our call to all video enthusiasts to submit applications to the EAS Futures Video Competition. The deadline for submissions is on 1 September 2021.

A regional action plan was adopted by ASEAN member states and will be implementing over for the next five years to mitigate the plastic pollution issues. In Indonesia, a recycling centre was launched to reduce the plastic pollution by turning crisp bags and shampoo packets into paving bricks. Likewise, a Singapore recycling firm developed an application that assists in connecting the junk dealers with the company as well as members of the public who want recycling collected from outside their homes.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a green loan with wind power companies to build and operate three wind farms in Viet Nam, with an expectation of increasing the wind power capacity by 30%. Global Environment Facility (GEF) pledged to fund a Philippine government-led project to conserve Philippine Rise, while three new research projects on rising sea-level have been awarded with funding under National Sea Level Programme in Singapore.

Follow the latest updates on blue economy and coastal sustainable development in East Asia on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@PEMSEA). We welcome your feedback, and please let us know if there are other blue economy topics you would like to see in future newsletters and programs.