News

The NOWPAP Pollution Monitoring Regional Activity Centre (POMRAC) organised a virtual workshop on April 8, 2021, to discuss the structure and implementation process of the SOMER-3 Report. Regular assessment of the environmental status and trends within the NOWPAP region is one of the key components of the NOWPAP Programme of Work.

In cooperation with the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) Secretariat, the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) presented its achievements in addressing marine litter through a global webinar on 29 March 2021. This webinar was the first event of a series presenting activities of Regional Nodes of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter.

On 25 February 2021, governmental officials from Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea, visited the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) in Busan, Korea, exploring the possibilities of cooperation with NOWPAP in addressing marine litter.

Marine scientists from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia met virtually on 19 February 2021 to discuss conducting case studies to estimate seagrass blue caron in the selected sea areas in the Northwest Pacific (NOWPAP) region.

As a follow up to the Marine Regions Forum 2019 (October 2019) with the purpose to develop clear recommendations, catalyse actionable outputs, and build partnerships for stronger regional ocean governance in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Sustainable Development

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan Regional Coordinating Unit (NOWPAP RCU) was invited to present its activities in the Subregional Parallel Sessions for South Asia and Temperate East Asia of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) on 5 February 2021.

The representatives from the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation pledged to further enhance the regional cooperation on marine and coastal environmental protection in the Third Extraordinary Intergovernmental Meeting of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP).

A courtesy visit to the newly elected Governor of Toyama Prefecture, Mr Hachiro NITTA, was paid by the NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr Yegor Volovik. The meeting was held on January 18, 2021, at the Toyama Prefecture.

Marine scientists and policymakers from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia gathered in the 18th Focal Points Meeting of the Data and Information Networking Regional Activity Center (DINRAC) virtually on 15 January 2021 to discuss how to improve further the information and data exchange on marine and coastal environment.

The 2020 NOWPAP Marine Litter Focal Points Meeting, organized virtually by the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit on December 3, 2020, discussed how to revise the NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter.

Policymakers, scientists, officers from international and non-governmental organizations gathered virtually on December 2, 2020 to discuss how to improve the regional cooperation in the prevention, monitoring and removal of marine litter in the Northwest Pacific Region.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) presented its efforts in addressing marine litter in the first Incheon International Ocean Forum (IIOF), which was held on 19-20 November 2020.

UNEP and EC organized a virtual workshop on the Regional Seas Programmes and the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework on 27-28 October 2020.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) introduced their eutrophication assessment and seagrass mapping tools in the 9th Geo for Good Summit held virtually on 20-21 October 2020.

NOWPAP congratulated the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) Project for its regional governance achievements on protecting the marine environment in the 5th Interim YSLME Commission Council (ICC) meeting which was held on October 19, 2020 virtually. Dr. Yegor Volovik stressed that YSLME is a long-time partner of NOWPAP. The two organizations have cooperated closely in the fields, such as addressing marine litter and biodiversity conservation. And the completing of a project is a new beginning for cross borders cooperation.

On October 9, 2020, a global workshop was organized by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), located in Potsdam, Germany. The workshop built on the results of the Marine Regions Forum organized by the Government of Germany in October 2019. More details on the Marine Regions Forum could be found at https://www.prog-ocean.org/marine-regions-forum/.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) participated as an observer in and contributed to a virtual meeting of the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) Marine Environmental Quality Committee (MEQ) on September 23, 2020. The meeting reviewed the progress of MEQ, discussed high priority items to be reported to the PICES Science Board, and new topics and directions for MEQ development.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) and the Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) discussed the renewal of a long-standing cooperation agreement between the two organizations regarding sustainable development and management of marine and coastal environment. Representatives from both organizations explored cooperation in various fields in a bilateral teleconference on 15 September 2020.

The project on developing a Near Real-Time Monitoring System for Marine Coastal Eutrophication Using Google Earth Engine (GEE) was kicked off on July 30,  2020.  The meeting reviewed the project proposal, analyzed the main challenges, agreed on the activity timeline, and specified roles of project members.

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) further explored possibilities of the cooperation with the East Asian countries in the field of marine environmental protection at the 12th East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council virtual Meeting on July 22, 2020. 

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and Google Earth Engine (GEE) have awarded the "Development of a Near Real-Time Monitoring System for Marine Coastal Eutrophication Using Google Earth Engine" as a winning project in July 2020. The project is among 32 projects from 22 countries to address some of the biggest global challenges using open Earth Data. The project aims to use a 250 m resolution satellite dataset on Chlorophyll-a to assess potential eutrophication areas at the global scale. Eutrophication is one of the biggest challenges of the marine environment worldwide.

Representatives from the Chinese government at central and local levels, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and research institutes brainstormed via a virtual meeting to further reduce marine plastic pollution and enhance cooperation in the East Asian region.

The Northwest Action Plan (NOWPAP) was invited to introduce the experience in hosting the Regional Node of Global Partnership on Marine Litter in technical consultation of the Working Group in East Asia.

The 24th Intergovernmental Meeting of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP) was postponed in early February due to the outbreak of COVID-19. However, to ensure the implementation of planned activities, the NOWPAP Member States, coordinated by the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit, started an online discussion on the Programme of Work 2020-2021. After three rounds of consultations, the NOWPAP Member States approved the biennial Work Plan and Budget to strengthen marine and coastal environmental protection in the region.

The 2019 Expert Meeting of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan’s the Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Response Regional Activity Centre took place in December 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. The Japan Coast Guard hosted the meeting.