25th East Asian Seas Congress set in Nov with PRRD as guest of honor

PEMSEA is an inter-governmental organization operating in East Asia to foster and sustain healthy and resilient oceans, coasts, communities and economies across this region. (PNA photo)

MANILA — As President Rodrigo Duterte has stressed his “non-negotiable” stance on environment protection, he has been invited as the guest of honor at an international congress slated in Iloilo in November for healthy oceans, people, and economies (HOPE) across East Asia.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will host the 2018 East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).

PEMSEA is an inter-governmental organization operating in East Asia to foster and sustain healthy and resilient oceans, coasts, communities and economies across this region.

“The congress will serve as a platform for collaboration and partnership on such matter,” DENR Undersecretary Analiza Teh said at the congress’ launch in Metro Manila on Thursday.

Teh said the East Asian region urgently needs action for HOPE, noting the increasing threats to the region’s biodiversity-rich seas, including the Philippine waters.

Among such threats, she pointed out, are climate change, illegal fishing, and coral reef destruction.

“The EAS Congress is a recognized region-wide platform for dialogue, knowledge-exchange, strategic action, partnership-building, and collaborative planning and cooperation in support of the region’s common vision of sustainable development of the seas of East Asia,” PEMSEA Executive Director Aimee Gonzales said at the launch.

Partnerships and integrated coastal management solutions would help foster and sustain healthy and resilient oceans, coasts, communities, and economies across East Asia, she added.

East Asian seas, according to PEMSEA, comprise the global center of marine biodiversity, hosting almost a third of the Earth’s mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs.

With a coastline totaling over 230,000 kilometers, East Asia is also a major link for 90 percent of international shipping trade, aside from being a center of economic growth and home to major industries and resource bases of China and Japan.

“Covering waters of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam, it is home to 2.1 billion people,” PEMSEA states.

In his third State of the Nation Address, Duterte highlighted the need to protect the environment, so future generations of Filipinos can benefit from the country’s natural wealth.

“Nature endowed us with this wealth to be tapped for the benefit of all generations,” he said. “My policy in the utilization of these resources is non-negotiable. Protection of the environment must be top priority.”

He warned about the dangers of irresponsible mining, noting improperly disposed wastes from mineral extraction end up polluting water bodies.

This year is PEMSEA’s 25th year in promoting HOPE across East Asia. The first EAS Congress was in 2003. It is held every three years on a rotation basis among PEMSEA and its partners.

PEMSEA said it has 22 non-country partners including Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.

“We try to work in terms of how we can promote mutually supportive and mutually collaborative action,” said Teh, also the Philippines’ PEMSEA national focal point person.

For this year, PEMSEA expects over 1,000 local and foreign delegates at the congress.

Government officials, members of the academe, non-government organization workers, and representatives of funding agencies are among the expected attendees to the event.