This report centers on one sector that plays a fundamental role in the economy, but which has received lesser attention thus far in the blue economy discussion: business. The focus is on businesses operating in coastal and marine areas in East Asia, a region where the seas are essential to the lives and economies of its people. From the perspective of industry, the report aims to define and establish an understanding of the importance of blue economy and how it might impact various industries and, ultimately, provide a roadmap to help companies make better decisions to position themselves competitively in the growing blue economy.

The PEMSEA Accomplishment Report 2014-2015 provides an overview of the progress made at the regional, national and local levels in support of the regional marine strategy, the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA).

Cy Jones of the World Resources Institute (WRI) developed a set of preliminary recommendations for strategies and tools for use in the restoration of Manila Bay. This report presents a brief introduction to Manila Bay issues and the application of lessons learned from other international experience.

The Regional Review highlights the overall progress of PEMSEA's 12 partner countries on regional and national levels. The review measures the implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas in East Asia using PEMSEA's Framework.

PEMSEA's latest accomplishment report presents the achievements and collaborative actions of the organization from July 2011 to July 2013. The events and successes of the past two years were both crucial and meaningful to PEMSEA as it celebrates 20 years of pursuing the shared vision of sustainable development in the East Asian Seas, and prepares to advance to the next phase of scaling up the implementation of the SDS-SEA. Aside from completing the activities and consolidating the results of the regional project on SDS-SEA implementation, PEMSEA has also taken significant steps these past two years in establishing itself as a full-fledged self-sustaining regional organization. PEMSEA has also focused on increasing its efforts in enhancing the region's intellectual capital and human resources in ICM through capacity development programs; and promoting PEMSEA's message to a wider audience through events, policy advocacy, and communications and media. As highlighted in this report, PEMSEA has also scaled up the implementation of ICM in several coastal communities and has put forward initiatives in strengthening, as well as documenting, the region’s wealth of knowledge and experience in marine and coastal governance.

The Project's objective is to facilitate implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), as adopted by East Asian countries in December 2003, through the mobilization of the necessary partnership arrangements, operating mechanisms, intellectual capital, support services and resources for the achievement of their shared vision of sustainable use of coastal and marine resources of the region and the development targets of the WSSD Plan of Implementation and that of the UN MDGs. The Terminal Evaluation Report examines the progress and performance of the Project for part of PEMSEA's transformation period and all of the transformation phase that began in 2010. The evaluation also identifies and addresses causes and issues that may have constrained the achievement of set targets.

The study on the total pollutant loading in the Laguna de Bay–Pasig River–Manila Bay watershed was conducted in support of the mandamus by the Supreme Court of the Philippines to fully implement the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the immediate rehabilitation, restoration and conservation of Manila Bay. The study aims to draft a pollution reduction strategy by identifying key sources of pollutants in Manila Bay. The watershed is deemed to contribute the largest proportion of pollutants entering Manila Bay and, therefore, reduction in pollution loads from these areas will directly affect the overall water quality in Manila Bay.

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China is a coastal nation endowed with vast land areas and sea expanse, with 18,000 km of mainland coastline, 14,000 km of island coastline and more than 6,900 islands, each with a land area of over 500 m2 . The rich marine natural resources and valuable ecosystem services of the country’s coastal and sea areas provide the foundation for its continued national economic and social development. Yet fragility of coastal and marine ecosystems, failure of coastal governance to underpin the interconnectedness between land and sea, nutrients and sediments from land-based sources from urban and agricultural production, sea use conflicts, frequent incidences of natural and manmade disasters, and other driving forces are increasingly becoming constraints to sustainable coastal and marine development. A shift to a new paradigm of coastal and ocean governance has become an urgent priority in China and other countries bordering the seas of East Asia.  

The 2012 State of the Coasts of Masan Bay provides a comprehensive assessment of the socioeconomic and environmental status of Masan Bay, RO Korea, including the management interventions and implementing arrangements that have been put in place for the sustainable development of the Bay.