Held back-to-back with the 25th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Water Resources Management (AWGWRM), the Third Regional Steering Committee (RSC) Meeting of the GEF/UNDP/ASEAN Project on Reducing Pollution and Preserving Environmental Flows in the East Asian Seas through the Implementation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in ASEAN Countries was held on 4 June 2025 through a hybrid format,. i.e., in-person at Haliday Inn Resort Baruna in Bali, Indonesia and online via Zoom.

Hosted by the Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Environment (MOE), the meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Oudomsack Philavong, AWGWRM Chairperson and Mr. Gerd Trogemann, Manager of United Nations Development Programme-Bangkok Regional Hub of Asia and the Pacific (UNDP-BRH). The meeting was attended by the National Focal Points (NFPs) of the AWGWRM from nine (9) ASEAN Member States (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), the East Asian Seas Executive Committee, the ASEAN Secretariat, and UNDP-BRH.

The Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU), hosted by PEMSEA Resource Facility and MOE Indonesia served as Secretariat to the RSC meeting.

PEMSEA, in partnership with the Fujian Institute for Sustainable Oceans (FISO) and supported by the China Oceanic Development Foundation (CODF), conducted a training workshop on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Application in the Scaling-up of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) last April 2025 in Xiamen, China. The workshop convened participants from 10 East Asian countries including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Through lectures, field visits, simulation, and peer-to-peer exchanges, the training aimed to build a regional pool of ICM-MSP trainers and contribute to the development of a standard course for regional adaptation.

The proceedings details:

• Concepts and tools for ICM and MSP implementation
• Regional experiences on integrating ecosystem-based spatial planning into policy and practice
• Field demonstrations from Xiamen's coastal transformation under ICM
• Practical strategies for developing ICM-MSP curricula and training delivery

The training supports the operationalization of the SDS-SEA Implementation Plan, particularly on capacity development and area-based management.

The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), in partnership with the National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service, Ministry of Natural Resources (NMHMS/MNR), convened the 2nd Blue Carbon Technical Working Group Meeting on 5–6 June 2025 in Haikou, Hainan Province of China. The meeting was attended by nearly 60 experts and stakeholders on blue carbon from 11 countries in the EAS region and beyond. The PRF Secretariat served as the Secretariat for the meeting. Online participants included members of the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers and other Blue Carbon experts from the region.
 

The meeting aimed to:

• Draw consensus on the governance framework of an innovative Blue Carbon Ecosystem Services Management Mechanism (Draft 0) and the requirements to operationalize a regional blue carbon certification program.
• Improve understanding and consensus building among BC-TWG members on the draft regional blue carbon accounting protocol.

Expected outcomes of the meeting include:

• Refined concept of a Blue Carbon Ecosystem Services Management Mechanism, including a blue carbon stock monitoring network.
• Refined regional blue carbon accounting protocol.
• Refined workplan for 2025 and 2026 for review, guidance and/or approval at the 17th EAS PC in July 2025.

The PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers (PNLC), Burapha University and the PEMSEA Resource Facility co-organized the "Training on Integrating Blue Carbon into the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) Framework" in March 2025 in Chonburi, Thailand.
 

The training, co-sponsored by Burapha University and the University of Hawai'i, with support from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation of Thailand, Thailand Science, Research and Innovation (TSRI), Henry Luce Foundation, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies-University of Hawai’i, brought together PNLC participants and Chonburi Province coastal management stakeholders to enhance the understanding of Blue Carbon concepts and explore how the Network can support.
 

PEMSEA's regional Blue Carbon program. The training had the following objectives:

1. Gain foundational understanding of ICM and its role in coastal resource management.
2. Learn about the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems and communities.
3. Understand the concept of Blue Carbon and its significance in climate change mitigation.
4. Acquire the knowledge to integrate blue carbon principles into coastal management strategies, ensuring more sustainable and resilient coastal zones and harness the potential of blue carbon ecosystems as nature-based solutions for climate action.
5. Identify work areas, in terms of knowledge, capacity and technical assistance, PNLC members need to strengthen to enable them to better support government and local community efforts in managing their coastal areas and associated blue carbon ecosystems.

The East Asian Seas (EAS) Executive Committee convened its 33rd Meeting on 28 April 2025 in Busan, Republic of Korea. The meeting gathered key leaders of the EAS Partnership Council, including Chair Dr. Vann Monyneath, Co-Chair Atty. Jonas Leones, Intergovernmental Session Co-Chair Mr. Le Dai Thang, Technical Session Chair Dr. Keita Furukawa, and Technical Session Co-Chair Dr. Suk-Jae Kwon. The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) Secretariat, led by Executive Director Ms. Aimee T. Gonzales, provided secretariat support, alongside other PRF staff. Observers included representatives from the Arafura Timor Seas program, Korea Maritime Institute, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, and the China PEMSEA Center, with additional PRF personnel joining online.

The meeting agenda featured key updates and strategic discussions on the outcomes and next steps following the East Asian Seas Congress 2024, the alignment of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) with 2030 targets, and PRF’s accomplishments in 2024 and work plan for 2025. Other agenda items included preparations for the 17th EAS Partnership Council Meeting, the engagement of Non-Country Partners, progress on the Blue Carbon Program, presentation of the 2024 audited financial report, and governance matters such as the election of new officers and the selection process for the next PRF Executive Director.

The planning workshop for the 2025 Marine Environment Protector (MEP) Program was conducted on 18-19 March 2025 at Parañaque, Philippines and brought together representatives from MEP partner organizations across six Philippine sites.

Representatives from the four existing MEP program sites presented their 2024 accomplishments and shared lessons learned from implementation. The workshop also served as an introduction for new MEP partners from Bulan and Calbayog who will begin implementation in 2025.

The participants discussed various campaigns and identified effective practices that could be applied across different sites. Together, they drafted comprehensive work plans and timelines aligned with the 2025 implementation guidelines established by the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU).

The two-day workshop successfully established target outputs for 2025 implementation and developed strategies to effectively impact local communities in their respective sites. Participants focused on ensuring engagement and full support of their respective local government units for proposed marine plastic waste management initiatives.

The First Blue Carbon Technical Working Group meeting was held on February 25, 2025, online via video conference (Zoom). The meeting was chaired by the Technical Session Chair and Co-Chair of the East Asian Seas (EAS) Partnership Council (PC) and participated by PEMSEA country partner designated representatives and non-country partner representatives from the National Marine Hazard Mitigation Service (NMHMS), Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF), Conservation International (CI), Korean Maritime Institute (KMI); PNLC members, Xiamen University, University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI); and other collaborators, such as the China Green Carbon Foundation and OceanPixel. The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) served as the Secretariat.

The document contains the proceedings from the PNLC Executive Committee (EC) held 22 July 2024 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines.

The meeting was participated in by the President and Vice-President of the PNLC, the PEMSEA Executive Director the PNLC Secretariat from IPB and the PEMSEA Resource Facility. The agenda included:

·       Review of the PNLC Workplan
·       PNLC Secretariat Turnover MOA to CCMRS-IPB
·       Updates and plans on PNLC Financial Sustainability Efforts
·       New PNLC Membership Applications
·       PNLG-PNLC Joint Session at the EAS Congress 2024
·       4th PNLC General Assembly Agenda

The meeting was organized jointly by the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) and the Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies (CCMRS) of the IPB University, Indonesia with support from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the Philippines.