News

NOWPAP is pleased to announce that the Chinese Government has decided to increase its annual contribution to the NOWPAP Trust Fund to USD 100,000 from the current level of USD 40,000. In this connection, NOWPAP is one step forward in reaching the target amount of half a million dollars which was set up by member states. With the increased contribution, NOWPAP is able to support more activities agreed upon by the member states.

NOWPAP representatives attended the workshop held in Seoul on 23 January 2013 where the issue of marine environmental cooperation among several projects and programmes in the East Asia was discussed. This workshop was organized by the Center for Climate and Sustainable Development Law and Policy, Korea University, with the support of Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology. The outcomes of this workshop are expected to be presented to the “transition committee” of the newly elected ROK President.

NOWPAP representative paid a courtesy call on the Toyama Prefectural Government on 16 January 2013 to deliver the New Year greetings and sincere thanks for the support offered by the host government to NOWPAP office in Toyama. It was learned that the Prefectural Government is planning to have a symposium back to back with the 18th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting in December 2013 for which it is also the host.

Invited as an observer, NOWPAP representative attended the 17th Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) of the North-East Asian Sub-regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) held on 20-21 December 2012 in Chengdu, China.

NOWPAP representatives attended the Global Partnership on Waste Management (GPWM) Biennium Conference held in Osaka, Japan on 5-6 November 2012. Launched two years ago, GPWM is focusing on six focal areas: waste and climate change, marine litter, waste agriculture biomass, waste minimization, e-waste, and integrated solid waste management. Among the six focal areas, NOWPAP is interested in marine litter as it is also one of its priorities identified by member states.

NOWPAP participated in the Toyama International Exchange Festival on 11 November 2012 and set up a booth to introduce NOWPAP and its activities. This annual event attracted several hundred foreigners living in Toyama as well as local people who could learn and experience the different cultures.

The 17th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) was held in Jeju (Korea) on 1-2 November 2012. All NOWPAP member states (China, Japan, Korea and Russia) were represented as well as for NOWPAP Regional Activity Centers (RACs) and four major partners (PEMSEA, PICES, WESTPAC and YSLME).

PICES 2012 Annual Meeting was held in Hiroshima, Japan on 12-21 October 2012. During the meeting, NOWPAP representatives attended several sessions, workshops, committee and working group meetings of interest to NOWPAP: marine invasive species, harmful algal blooms (HAB), persistent organic pollutants, etc.

NOWPAP participated in two local public events in October 2012: the Global Gathering in Busan, Republic of Korea and the Toyama Environmental Fair in Toyama, Japan where NOWPAP promotional items were displayed and distributed. The Global Gathering brought diplomatic missions, international organizations, academic, cultural and social institutions based in Busan to showcase their activities for promoting international exchanges.

Joining colleagues from the Regional Seas Programme around the world, NOWPAP representative participated in the annual gathering of the 14th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans on 1-3 October 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting focused on the ecosystem approach which helps the implementation of the Region Seas Conventions and Action Plans, and the possible contribution of Regional Seas Programme to the world oceans assessment (Regular Process).

The Regional Scientific and Technical Capacity Building Workshop on the World Ocean Assessment (WOA), contributing to the UN Regular Process, was held on 17-19 September 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. Workshop was co-organized by COBSEA, NOWPAP, IOC WESTPAC and GRID Arendal with financial support provided by UNEP, IOC WESTPAC and Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN).

NOWPAP representative attended the Marine Litter Summit on 25-26 August 2012 in Kameoka city of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan where participants from environmental NGOs, central and local governments discussed ways of dealing with marine litter in Japan and in the region. The summit was organized by the Japan Environmental Action Network (JEAN) along with a river bank cleanup sponsored by local government, industry and citizen groups. The river bank cleanup campaign was organized the day before the Summit at Hozugawa River, in which 100 people participated.

The Oceans Compact, an initiative to strengthen United Nations system-wide coherence to deliver on its oceans-related mandates was launched by the UN Secretary General in Yeosu City on 12 August 2012, the closing day for the 2012 Yeosu Expo. Representative of NOWPAP RCU, along with other UN agencies in Korea, participated in the closing ceremony. During the last days of Yeosu Expo, several important events were also held such as exhibition of UNEP, FAO and IMO in the UN Pavilion.

In conjunction with the 4th Northeast Asia Region Youth Environmental Program sponsored by the Toyama Prefectural Government, a special lecture on NOWPAP and its activities was delivered to local school students by the NOWPAP Deputy Coordinator on 19 August 2012.

As part of the implementation of the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, NOWPAP organized the 2012 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and Marine Litter Workshop on 17-18 July in Vladivostok, Russia. NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points, ICC national coordinators, representatives of Regional Activity Centres and Regional Coordinating Unit as well as several Tokyo University students participated in the beach cleanup and the workshop.

Joining PEMSEA country and non-country partners, NOWPAP participated in the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2012 on 16-20 July in Changwon city, Republic of Korea. NOWPAP representatives attended the Congress plenary sessions and parallel workshops with the main theme of “Building Blue Economy: Strategy, Opportunities and Partnerships in the Seas of East Asia” as well as the special partnership council meeting and the ministerial forum which adopted the Sustainable Development for the Seas of East Asia Implementation Plan (2012-2016).

NOWPAP Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre (MERRAC) and Data and Information Network Regional Activity Centre (DINRAC) held their Focal Points meetings on 14-18 May and 23-24 May 2012 in Yeosu and Beijing, respectively.  At the MERRAC Focal Points Meeting, the following major activities were decided to be carried out for the next two years among other routine tasks: Compiling a report on the legislation and practice related to civil liability and compensation for marine pollution damage in NOWPAP region; Developing practical assistance procedure a

NOWPAP joined other international organizations and projects at the Ocean and Coast Best Practise Area of the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, to showcase its activities on oil spills preparedness and response and marine litter management. During the first week of the Expo, two lectures were delivered by NOWPAP on 16 and 17 May respectively introducing UNEP Regional Seas Programme and NOWPAP activities. Related materials were also distributed. The Expo will be continued till 12 August 2012. 

In conjunction with the International Exposition Yeosu Korea 2012, the 4th NOWPAP joint oil spill exercise was conducted on 18 May. Jointly organized by Korea Coast Guard and China Maritime Safety Administration under the NOWPAP Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan, with participation of about 30 vessels, boats and aircrafts, the exercise demonstrated the preparedness of NOWPAP member states to major oil spills at sea. Three previous NOWPAP joint oil spill exercises have been conducted in Russia, China and Japan respectively since 2006.    

Taking into account suggestions of member states after the 16th Intergovernmental Meeting held in Beijing, China (December 2011), the NOWPAP Medium-term Strategy 2012-2017 has been finalized. In the coming 5 years, NOWPAP activities will be focusing on the following priority areas: • Integrated coastal and river basin management;  • Regular assessments of the state of the marine environment;  • Pollution prevention and reduction, including harmful substances, hazardous waste and marine litter;  • Biodiversity conservation (including marine invasive species, MIS);  • Climate change impacts.

NOWPAP Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre (CEARAC) convened its tenth Focal Points Meeting (FPM) on 17-18 April 2012 in Toyama, Japan.

NOWPAP representative attended the workshop “Introduction to rapid assessment survey methodologies for detecting non-indigenous marine species (NIS)” that was jointly organized by the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Sub-Commission for the Western pacific (IOC WESTPAC) and NOWPAP in Nagasaki, Japan, on 8-9 February 2012.

NOWPAP representative attended the Eastern and South-eastern Asian Seas Workshop of the Regular Process on 21-23 February 2012 in Sanya, China. Contributing to the regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic aspects, this workshop was designed as a capacity building exercise and brought about 58 participants from 7 countries (including China, Japan and Korea) and several international organizations to assess the needs, gaps and capacity for future assessments for the region.

Ms. Gyoung Hee Kim joined NOWPAP RCU and reported to the Busan office on 13 February 2012. With her arrival the administrative work in Busan office will be improved as the post had not been filled since September 2011. Ms. Kim, a Korean national, was working for the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project (YSLME) before joining RCU and it is expected that the experience with the GEF project will facilitate her orientation in the new working environment at NOWPAP.

NOWPAP and the Organizing Committee have recently signed a contract with regard to the NOWPAP participation in the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea. During the Expo which will run through 12 May - 12 August 2012 in Yeosu city of the Republic of Korea, NOWPAP will present its activities (with the assistance of a designated company) in the Ocean and Coast Best Practice Area with themes of oil spill preparedness and response as well as marine litter management. A number of lectures will be also delivered during the Expo period to promote NOWPAP and public awareness of marine environment conservation.