Ocean Policy Research Institute - Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRISPF)

Convener

Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation – OPRI-SPF; China Institute for Marine Affairs – CIMA; COAST CARD Japan

Venue

TBC

Overview

The Sea of East Asia from north to south is comprised of the Japan Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea, all of which are semi-enclosed. On land, in the East Asia region, there is a solid variety of political, economic, and social systems. It is harnessed by some of the most heavily populated cities and countries in the world. From the perspective of the ocean, the region is characterized by not only its unique marine and coastal settings, such as large marine ecosystems, island chains, vast gulfs, and crowded straits, but also commercially important fishing and mariculture grounds and rich offshore mineral resources such as gas and oil. However, the rapid economic development and massive population growth in the region have inevitably resulted in enormous pressures on the marine environment and its resources. 

Various issues of ocean governance should be considered to enforce the resilience of the Seas of East Asia, including the development speed and phase of institutional frameworks, the suitable and executable assessment tool and implementation regimes in the fields. Especially, multi-layered ocean governance of regional-national-local methodologies should be implemented.

In this session, we will first present an overview of regional governance models around the world and scale down to national case studies on coastal management from Japan and China. Second, we will consider the coastal governance methodology from the view of local community engagement from bottom-up perspectives of the governance. It will give a shared future and the role of voluntary participation to the stakeholders. Finally, a panel discussion will be held to discuss how we can draw holistic and inclusive ocean governance in the Seas of East Asia with a shared future and the role of voluntary participation of the stakeholders. A multi-layered ocean governance will be introduced as a methodology to fill the gap of top-down and bottom-up governance.

Program