ILOILO City – Environment ministers and heads of delegation of 11 member countries of Partnership in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) adopted the Iloilo Ministerial Declaration during the 6th Ministerial Forum of the East Asia Seas Congress 2018 here.
The congress started on Nov. 27 and wrapped up yesterday.
Titled “East Asian Region Moving As One to Secure Health Oceans, People and Economies,” the Iloilo Declaration recognizes the significant value and critical contribution of coastal and marine ecosystems’ goods and services to securing food and jobs, helping to eradicate poverty, and building resilient coastal communities and blue economies in East Asia.
“We, the representatives of 11 countries bordering on the Seas of East Asia, have gathered in Iloilo City, Philippines, on the 29th day of November 2018 to re-affirm our shared commitments for the sustainable development of the Seas of East Asia to reach our shared vision for healthy oceans, people and economies…,” read part of the declaration.
The 11 countries are Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Aimee Gonzales, PEMSEA executive director, said the ministerial declaration is a marching order to move forward and actually develop a work plan.
“We will also focus on the seven priority areas that are actually also in our shared development strategy. This is what we will be implementing in the next three years. In the next congress in 2021, we will be reporting on the progress of the Iloilo Declaration,” Gonzales said yesterday.
She also called for a change in people’s mindset “so that we could become responsible stewards. We need to take bold steps to help protect and manage our oceans.”
“This is not just a government responsibility but everyone’s responsibility. As a citizen, it would be good if you could actually educate yourself or involve yourselves…For example in Guimaras, after the oil spill (people) were mobilized…to plan the next step to achieve their vision of becoming an agri-tourism (area) in the Visayas,” Gonzales added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Antonio Laviña, chairman of the East Asia Seas Partnership Council, said the Iloilo Declaration is different from other declarations made through PEMSEA and EAS—it is not just generalities and a call for action but an actual plan and a commitment.
In the Iloilo Declaration, ministers committed to the following:
* achieve remaining targets under the Da Nang Compact by 2021
* have regular updates of the State of the Oceans and Coasts Report (SOC)
* provide voluntary country contributions to PEMSEA operations beyond 2019
* support transition to blue economy investments at the national and local level
* reduce or prevent marine pollution of all kinds
* implement policies and programs for the sustainable management of coastal tourism destinations – important with pollution and waste, and
* implement adaptation and mitigation strategies to respond to climate change./PN
