The 5th Regional Twinning Workshop on Integrated River Basin and Coastal Area Management (IRBCAM) with the theme "Meeting Challenges of Pollution Reduction in River Basins and Coastal Areas" was held at the Ibis Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia, from 17 to 19 March 2010. The workshop was co-organized by Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), PEMSEA Twinning Secretariat/Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) of Republic of Korea (RO Korea) and Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Indonesia. The participants were largely officials from the national and local government levels of Indonesia. The resource persons for the workshop were from various organizations and agencies from Indonesia, Philippines, RO Korea, the United States of America (USA), international and national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and donor agencies, including, the World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The workshop aimed to share experiences, good practices and lessons learned in planning, developing and implementing pollution reduction investments in Manila Bay (Philippines) and Jakarta Bay (Indonesia) within the context of IRBCAM.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING

Bataan, Philippines, 21 November 2009

A. INTRODUCTION

1. The 2009 PEMSEA Network of Local Governments (PNLG) Forum was held in conjunction with the convening of the 2009 East Asian Seas Congress. The EAS Congress was held on 23-27 November 2009 in Manila, Philippines and hosted by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, through the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

2. The PNLG General Assembly (GA) Meeting was held at Lou-is Resort and Restaurant, Balanga City, Bataan, Philippines on 21 November 2010. The GA meeting was hosted by the Provincial Government of Bataan and coorganized by PEMSEA, the PNLG Secretariat and the Bataan Coastal Care Foundation (BCCF), which comprises of private sector partners of the Bataan ICM program.

3. The GA Meeting tackled key issues related to the operationalization of the PNLG including the future role and thrusts of the network, fund management and election of officers. Highlights of the meeting included the induction of Thua Thien-Hue (Vietnam) as the newest member of the PNLG and the signing of the Letter of Cooperation between PEMSEA and the PNLG for the Sustainable Development and Management of Marine and Coastal Environment of the Seas of East Asia.

4. Twenty local governments from 10 countries across the region participated in the forum in addition to the representatives from the East Asian Seas Partnership Council, PEMSEA Resource Facility, the PNLG Secretariat, the private sector and local participants.

5. The participants to the PNLG participated in the EAS Congress and attended the Technical Workshop on Land and Sea-Use Zoning: Opportunities and Challenges on 23 November.

6. The meeting agenda and full list of participants is attached as Annex 1 and 2.

This publication summarizes the results of one of the workshops held during the East Asian Seas Congress 2009 on Greener Ports in the ASEAN Region. The seminar on Greener Ports examined various efforts and examples of green policies, regulatory enforcements, researches, proactive approaches including the drivers for investments in environmental initiatives. Examples and experiences within and outside the ASEAN region were reviewed with the end in view of identifying good practices and lessons learned to promote port sustainability and environmental stewardship in the region.

This publication summarizes the results of one of the workshops held during the East Asian Seas Congress 2009 on Addressing Transboundary Issues through Regional/Subregional Seas Cooperation: Initiatives in East Asia. In the East Asia Seas (EAS) region, a number of regional and subregional transboundary projects on marine and coastal environmental management have been progressing or initiated recently, each with a goal of developing a subregional Strategic Action Plan (SAP), led by concerned countries, donor agencies, UN organizations, international NGOs, etc. In reviewing these initiatives and projects, the EAS Partnership Council of PEMSEA noted the need for collaboration between these initiatives and projects/programs for creating synergies and sharing knowledge in order to reduce possible duplication of effort, inefficient use of resources, and limited sharing of knowledge, experience, skills and tools. The need for an effective coordination mechanism for the region among the various projects/programmes and implementing agencies/organizations has also noted by the Council. With this realization, a workshop was convened during the EAS Congress 2009 to discuss on various transboundary environmental issues and their implementing mechanisms, good practices and areas of collaboration among the programmes and stakeholders involved. In the workshop, a number of regional, subregional and international organizations including UNDP and UNEP and initiatives including South China Sea, Yellow Sea, COBSEA, NOWPAP, PEMSEA, Conservation International Philippines, Sulu-Sulawesi Seas, Arafura-Timor Seas, Coral Triangle Initiative and Mangroves for the Future presented their works, discussed barriers and opportunities, and identified ways to move forward.

This publication summarizes the results of one of the workshops held during the East Asian Seas Congress 2009 on the Impacts of Climate Change at the Coastal and Ocean Areas of the East Asian Seas Region. Climate changes are not new—cycles of tremendous climate changes have happened throughout Earth’s history; but in those times, the contributions from humans were nil or very insignificant. A grave concern is very apparent today; IPCC, in its 2007 report declared, beyond doubt, a warming of the global climate system and linking it to human activities. Humankind’s excesses have thus become manifold: pollution, overextractions, introductions, habitat destruction, and now climate change have tremendously altered ecosystems and the climate and are contributing to Earth’s destruction. It is against this backdrop that the Workshop on Impacts of Climate Change at the Coastal and Ocean Areas of the East Asian Seas Region was convened during the EAS Congress in Manila, Philippines in November 2009. This workshop was aimed at articulating climate change adaptation and resilience strategies within the context of sustainable development in coastal and marine environment. In particular, the workshop objectives are: To understand the types, level and severity of the adverse social and economic impacts of climate change; and To outline actions, initiatives or response measures within and outside the East Asian Seas region related to climate change adaptation and resilience strategies. The workshop was co-convened by the World Maritime University (WMU), the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs of RO Korea (MLTM) and the Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia (SENSA). The impacts to the East Asian Seas region were discussed as they relate to sustainable development in Monsoon Asia, fisheries production, and shipping (with the opening of Northeast Passage and Arctic meltdown). The active discussion and sharing of experiences between natural and social scientists and policymakers made reaching a common understanding of global change issues as they affect vulnerability and adaptation in coastal regional settings. The workshop also became a venue which bridged the practitioners of global change with those of a local rural development focus. Also amply articulated were different perspectives coming from disaster risk, conservation and coastal management practitioners.

This publication outlines the results of the International Conference on Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Development, held from November 23 to 26, 2009 in Manila, Philippines.