Commitments 2018

Maritime Security

Japan announced its commitment to strengthen the capacity of maritime law enforcement through cooperation with UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). In 2018 Japan contributed almost USD 28 million to UNODC (footnote: This contribution is not limited to ocean-related activities).

Japan announced its commitment to implement capacity building measures in the area of the free, open, and sustainable ocean for 500 people with the Forum Islands Countries(FICs)for the next three years at the occasion of PALM8 (The Eighth Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting) in May 2018.The purpose of this support is assist the FICs to ensure free and open maritime order based on the rule of law, and sustainability of ocean resources in the region.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) makes public its commitment to providing a stable supply of meteorological observation data from its Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 geostationary meteorological satellites, and has allocated a FY 2018 budget of USD 29.35 million to this end. Observation data broadcast to the East Asia and Western Pacific regions via communication satellite support climate monitoring, natural disaster risk mitigation and maritime safety in individual countries of these regions as a basis of meteorological services. JMA also provides these nations with technical assistance, including presentations and exercises on data utilization. JMA will continue its efforts to provide observation data and technical assistance in this regard.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) allocated USD 125 thousand to implement the 1 month training course in Japan for the maritime law enforcement through lectures, site visit, and practice in collaboration with Japan Coast Guard in June-July 2018. This course was targeting to mid-level officers in charge of practical investigation. 15 officers from Djibouti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Maldives, Micronesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam participated in this program and learned basic theories and practical knowledge and techniques of maritime law enforcement.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) allocated USD 401 thousand to implement the training course in Japan for enhancing the capacity of hydrographic survey technique and utilization of hydrographic data in collaboration with Japan Coast Guard and other organizations, which started in June 2018 and to be ended in December 2018. This course is targeting to 6 officials from the authorities responsible for hydrographic survey or nautical chart (hydrographic office, port authority, maritime bureau) of Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea and Philippines. The participants are expected to be certified International Accredited Category B after acquiring the hydrographic survey technique, and deepen their understanding of the utilization of hydrographic data through the course.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)allocated USD 241 thousand to implement the course in Japan for maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and environment protection in collaboration with Japan Coast Guard and other organizations, which started in September 2018 and to be ended in November 2018. This course is targeting to 12 officials from the agencies in charge of Maritime Search and Rescue, Marine Disaster Prevention and Marine Environment Protection of 8 countries. The participants are expected to implement an action plan identifying the issues and challenges in their own organizations based on the acquired knowledge and skills during the program.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)allocated USD 1.25 million (JPY 0.14 billion) to implement technical cooperation project for Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), which started in May 2018 and continue until May 2021. The purpose of the project is to assist MMEA to enhance its educational and training capacity and to encourage cooperation among neighboring countries. One Japan Coast Guard officer is being dispatched to MMEA as an JICA long-term Expert.

Japan Coast Guard, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Nippon Foundation allocated the budget of USD 0.53 million in 2018 for the Advancement of «Maritime Safety and Security Policy Program». The program continues to facilitate mutual understanding and cooperation. As a result, the importance of «maritime order governed by law and rules and not by coercion» will be shared and promoted among Coast Guard agencies in Asian countries.

The Japan Coast Guard started the JCG Mobile Cooperation Team as a unit specialized for skill development on assistance related to technological guidance, and allocated a budget amounting to USD 0.53 million. Also, through JICA or ASEAN-Japan Transport Partnership, the JCG is engaged in the skill development in the area of overseas maritime safety such as maritime crime control, hydrography, and Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) operators’ capacity.

Japan announced will steadily implement its assistance worth USD 133.71 million over two years through a comprehensive approach to improve security in the southern part of the Philippines and Sulu-Celebes Seas in order to realize «Asia resilient to terrorism». The purpose of this support is to assist the Philippines to ensure free and open maritime order based on the rule of law.

Japan announced allocation of approximately USD 900,000 for 2018 to fulfill its commitment to develop a suite of analytical methodologies and necessary instruments including sensors to understand the marine information about Ocean Acidification, Marine biodiversity and Microplastics for the period between 2018 and 2022.

Japan announced allocation of USD 12 million in 2018 to fund the activities to enhance awareness of Tsunami in collaboration with the international organizations such as UNISDR, UNDP and UNITAR as well as with JICA. The activities from April 2018 to March 2019 are related to «World Tsunami Awareness Day,» established by the UN General Assembly resolution.

Ireland announced that by the end of 2018 it will complete a USD 284 million naval vessel replacement program involving the purchase of four larger more capable offshore patrol vessels tasked primarily with maritime surveillance and fishery protection.

Ireland committed USD 36 million to the delivery of three Pilatus 12 aircraft with sophisticated surveillance suites to the Irish Defence Forces in 2019/20. These aircraft, when required, will provide a significantly enhanced littoral patrolling capability in support of maritime surveillance and protection.

Ireland announced investment in the order of USD 1.7 million in a program to upgrade current Naval Service ICT systems which support Ireland’s fishery protection regime within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy. The program will be run out over 2019/20.

Ireland reaffirmed its commitment to participate in the MARSUR Project, facilitating the exchange of information and data between navies so as to improve the common «Recognised Maritime Picture» in support of enhanced ocean surveillance and protection.

Indonesia announced USD 27.8 million for marine and fisheries surveillance activities include patrol vessel and airborne surveillance, command center operation, marine and fisheries crime investigations, MPA surveillance, enhancement community based surveillance participation, combatting destructive fishing and any other related activities.

Indonesia through bilateral cooperation with neighboring countries committed to conduct technical cooperation on information sharing, lesson learned, capacity building, and coordinated patrol.

Indonesia committed to establish of traffic separation scheme in the Lombok Strait by submitting the proposal to International Maritime Organization (IMO) to enhance the safety of navigation in the area.

Indonesia and 10 others countries under RPOA-IUU (Regional Plan of Action to Promote Responsible Fishing Practices Including Combatting Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in the Region) committed to enhance and strengthen the overall level of fisheries management in the region in order to sustain fisheries resources and the marine environment.

Australian Governments have invested in the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) as a national collaborative research infrastructure. IMOS routinely operates a wide range of observing equipment throughout Australia’s coastal and open oceans, making all of its data accessible to the marine and climate science community, other stakeholders and users, and international collaborators. IMOS contributes to sustainable development goals as a Regional Alliance of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). It operates the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), which is Australia’s national ocean data centre and a participant in the International Ocean Data and Information Exchange (IODE).

The International Labor Organization (ILO) will expand upon its activities for the promotion of the ratification and implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention including through strengthening cooperation with port state control authorities around the world. In the next five years, the ILO supervisory bodies will examine the conformity with the Convention of laws and regulations of member States representing more than 91 per cent of the world fleet and employing more than 1 million seafarers. Ensuring the respect of seafarers’ fundamental rights and principles and well as their employment and social rights is critical for the achievement of safer shipping and cleaner oceans.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) SEA Fisheries Project (Strengthened Coordination to Combat Trafficking in Fisheries in South East Asia) (funded by the United States) will reduce human trafficking in the fishing sector by strengthening coordination and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of existing national and regional level anti-trafficking efforts in South East Asia. Its regional coordination body, to be launched in November 2018, will support collaborative approaches, develop and implement joint strategies, and share information.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) will expand upon its activities for the promotion of the ratification and implementation of the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), as amended. This Convention ensures that seafarers working and living on ships involved in international trade can benefit from the new seafarers’ identity document, which allows them to travel without a visa to to disembark in ports for shore leave. Access to shore facilities and shore leave are vital elements of their general well-being and, therefore, to the achievement of safer shipping and cleaner oceans.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) will promote the ratification of the Work in Fishing Convention, No. 188, which entered into force on November 16, 2017. It will also assist ratifying States to effectively implement the Convention through the work of its supervisory system and through training tools, gap analysis and capacity building and other technical assistance and by assisting States to undertake related flag and port State inspections.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) Ship to Shore Rights Project (‘Combatting Unacceptable Forms of Work in the Thai Fishing and Seafood Industry’) (funded by the European Union) will continue to work closely with partners including the Thai Government, employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations and buyers towards the prevention and reduction of unacceptable forms of work in the Thai fishing and seafood processing sectors. In doing so, it will continue to work to achieve core objectives covering the 22 coastal provinces of Thailand. Ship to Shore Rights Project (‘Combatting Unacceptable Forms of Work in the Thai Fishing and Seafood Industry’) (funded by the European Union) will continue to work closely with partners including the Thai Government, employers’ organizations, workers’ organizations and buyers towards the prevention and reduction of unacceptable forms of work in the Thai fishing and seafood processing sectors. In doing so, it will continue to work to achieve core objectives covering the 22 coastal provinces of Thailand.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and the government of Indonesia committed to increase the human capability and information gathering and processing capacity of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and cooperating institutions to address IUU fishing in Indonesia, this will be delivered via formal training and co-working on defined projects. The project will allocated USD 3,2 million and target 3 to 6 case studies, depending on the complexity of the problem and scale of the resources the project teams are able to devote to the task and involve a 2 to 5 day intensive training in the relevant analytical methods, including hands-on implementation with data drawn from Indonesia’s vessel monitoring system, fisheries logbooks, observers, or other sources.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) will address two key issues in fisheries monitoring and surveillance: improving the information available from existing fisheries monitoring data through the development of analytical tools, and reducing the cost of fisheries monitoring and surveillance data through the application of new technologies. In collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and fisheries and allocated USD 485,000 the project involves: developing collaborative networks to assess technology and capacity gaps and the provision of training workshops to develop the analytic capacity of stakeholder.

JAMSTEC commits to allocate USD 5.4 million to the “Observation of the Wide-area Seabed Change toward the National Resillience”

JAMSTEC allocated USD 4.5 million funds to operate and maintain for “DONET (Dense Oceanfloor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis)” in FY 2017-18.

JAMSTEC allocated USD 0.24 million to the projects “Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Mitigation in the Marmara Region and Disaster Education in Turkey” in FY 2017-18.

Global Fishing Watch is committed to advancing sustainable fishing through increased transparency. In collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Oak Foundation, Oceans 5 and Walton Family Foundation, the Global Fishing Watch will,engage 20 countries in our global transparency program, and publish their fishing vessel tracking data in our platform over the next 4 years.

The Waitt Foundation and the U.S. National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) announced the Marine Conservation and Maritime Security Coalition (MCMSC), a sustainable, long-term partnership between the maritime security and ocean conservation communities that provides an enduring and flexible platform for addressing the maritime information needs of partners within the Global Maritime Community of Interest (GMCOI). Through an online collaboration space and catalyzing events, the MCMSC will facilitate the GMCOI’s design and implementation of solutions to more effectively counter a range of maritime challenges including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, piracy, and human trafficking.

International Hydrographic Organization will establish a Seabed 2030 Project, a collaborative project between Nippon Foundation and GEBCO. The project is initiated in 2018 to map of the entire World Ocean by the year 2030. The project funded by The Nippon Foundation and allocates USD 2 Million and will contribute USD 18.5 million for the first ten years.

Global Fishing Watch is announce, with the support from the Walton Family Foundation, the expansion of our global Research Partner Program to include four Indonesian Universities and research institutions. The program will also expand the engagement with the Indonesian Government in other key areas required for ocean sustainability, including small vessel tracking and support to other government department such at Capture Fisheries and the Coastguard. This commitment is a one year commitment.

Global Fishing Watch is committed to advancing sustainable fishing through increased transparency. With new support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with our founding funders for the next 4 years, GFW will establish an analytical and policy cell with global reach to collect, analyze and publicly display data on commercial fishing activity. The new cell will support under-resourced countries with data and analysts to help improve governance of fisheries and monitoring of marine protected areas.

PACIFICO will invest USD 200.000 to promote, in partnership with Global Fishing Watch, transparency, analysis and mapping of the intensity of fishing effort & patterns in the Tropical Eastern Pacific.

PACIFICO will invest USD 11,65 million to design and implement a regional initiative focused on sustainable fisheries, MPAs and Control & Surveillance, support implementation of the Declaration for the Cooperation on Security and Environmental Protection in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama, support the development of Regional Marine Control and Surveillance Strategy, and increase the capacities in marine and fisheries surveillance by the application of technology.

World Research Institute Indonesia aims to conduct a pilot project whereby the subnational One Map process for maritime or marine issues is tested out in 2020. Building upon WRI Indonesia’s extensive experience with subnational One Map process on forest and terrestrial resources issues, WRI Indonesia will conduct research on the protocol and challenges around integrated terrestrial and marine planning at the national and subnational level.

Inmarsat will invest close to USD 1 billion in a next generation of satellites communications equipment and related technology that will vastly reduce or eliminate the gap between the haves and the have-nots in the oceans.

One Earth Future, through its Secure Fisheries and Stable Seas programs, will help governments reduce violent conflict over fisheries with a commitment of USD 2 million to a global Fisheries Conflict Research Consortium, the geographic expansion of the Stable Seas Maritime Security Index, and engagement projects in eastern Africa. This investment will improve coastal welfare and food security, enhance the Blue Economy, and mitigate the maritime drivers of conflict.

CLS France has been for instance working very closely with EMSA for the past CLS commits to provide all satellite imagery value-added products with total cost USD 57 million over 3 years to serve European users through EMSA dealing with Maritime Surveillance.

The Pacific Fusion Centre will provide strategic analysis of information to help strengthen maritime domain awareness and provide security alerts and advice for Pacific security agencies. The facility will be established in mid-2019, following close consultation with Pacific partners and working with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to prepare a feasibility study.

Marine Protected Area

Canada reaffirms its commitment to establish the Banc-des Américains Area of Interest (AOI) as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) selected the Banc-des-Américains as an AOI for MPA designation in 2011. The proposed MPA aims to protect seafloor habitats and forage species, and aid in recovery of species at risk, particularly blue whales and spotted and Northern wolffish.

Canada reaffirms its commitment to establish the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest (AOI) as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act. This AOI has been identified in support of the Government of Canada’s commitment to protect 10% of Canadian waters by 2020. Located along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, the Eastern Shore Islands AOI is approximately 2,133 km2, and encompasses a dense archipelago of hundreds of islands.

Canada reaffirms its commitment to establish the Fundian Channel-Browns Bank Area of Interest (AOI) as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act. The western section of this AOI is centred on Georges Basin while the larger eastern section encompasses the Northeast Channel and part of Browns Bank. Fundian Channel-Browns Bank is approximately 7,253 km2 and includes important oceanographic processes, diverse bottom habitats, several depleted groundfish species, and deep sea coral and sponge habitats. The channel is also the largest entrance to the Gulf of Maine from the open Atlantic Ocean and many species, including basking sharks, use it as a migration corridor. Several important fisheries are active in and around this area including Atlantic cod and cusk, tuna and offshore lobster.

Canada proposed an area known as the Eastern Canyons as a new conservation area under the Fisheries Act. Eastern Canyons is located approximately 60 km east of Sable Island off Banquereau and is approximately 36,284km2. The dense corals found in the canyons and along the shelf edge warrant protection under DFO’s Policy for Managing the Impact of Fishing on Sensitive Benthic Areas. This site is extended into the deep-water to foster connectivity among the shelf, slope, and abyssal plain, as deep-sea ecosystems are known to be vulnerable to disturbance. Once established, this area will contribute towards the Marine Protected Area network which is under development in the Scotian Shelf bioregion in Atlantic Canada, and is expected to contribute towards Canada’s marine conservation targets as a marine refuge.

The Offshore Pacific Seamounts and Vents Closure, Canada was announced as a new marine refuge in 2017. It is located in the Offshore Pacific bioregion. The marine refuge was established to protect underwater seamounts, hydrothermal vents, and the ecosystems they support by prohibiting all bottom-contact commercial and recreational fishing activities within the refuge. The marine refuge is approximately 82,530 km2 in size.

The Coral and Sponge Closures in the Quebec and Gulf Regions Canada were announced as new marine refuges on October 28, 2017 and are located in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence bioregion. These marine refuges were established to provide cold-water coral and sponge protection by prohibiting all fishing that uses bottom-contact gear. The 11 coral and sponge closures include: Beaugé Bank Sponge Conservation Area, Central Gulf of St. Lawrence Coral Conservation Area, East of Anticosti Island Sponge Conservation Area, Eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence Coral Conservation Area, Eastern Honguedo Strait Coral and Sponge Conservation Area, Jacques-Cartier Strait Sponge Conservation Area, North of Bennett Bank Coral Conservation Area, Parent Bank Sponge Conservation Area, Slope of Magdalen Shallows Coral Conservation Area, South-East of Anticosti Island Sponge Conservation Area and Western Honguedo Strait Coral Conservation Area. Altogether, the marine refuges are approximately 8,572 km2 in size.

The Davis Strait Conservation, Canada was announced as a new marine refuge on December 21, 2017 and is located in the Eastern Arctic bioregion. The marine refuge was established to conserve sensitive benthic areas by prohibiting all bottom-contact fishing activities. This marine refuge is approximately 17,298 km2 in size.

The Disko Fan Conservation Area, Canada was announced as a new marine refuge on December 21, 2017 and is located in the Eastern Arctic bioregion. The marine refuge was established to minimize impacts on winter food source and overwintering habitat for narwhal, and to conserve coral concentrations by prohibiting all bottom-contact fishing activities. This marine refuge is approximately 7,485 km2 in size.

The Hatton Basin Conservation Area, Canada was announced as a new marine refuge on December 21, 2017 and is located in the Eastern Arctic and Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves bioregions. The marine refuge was established to conserve sensitive benthic areas by prohibiting all bottom-contact fishing activities. This marine refuge is approximately 42,459 km2 in size.

The Hopedale Saddle closure (Canada) was announced as a new marine refuge on December 21, 2017 and is located in the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves bioregion. The marine refuge was established to protect corals and sponges and contribute to the long-term conservation of biodiversity by prohibiting all bottom-contact fishing activities. This mariner refuge is approximately 15,411 km2 in size.

Panama announces to invest USD 75,000.00 in 2018 and for 2019 of USD 65,000.00 (USD 162,000.00 in total), in the recent initiative on Phantom Networks, in order to strengthen the training of skills and capabilities of underwater work in the country to carry out a good Management in the Marine Area of Coiba focused on the extraction and management of ghost nets through the acquisition or perfection of diving knowledge and techniques, which allow contributing to the mitigation of the problem of use and discarding of the different fishing gears.

Papua New Guinea with the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society Marine Protected Areas Fund and Oceans 5, announces will establish 7,500 square kilometres of marine protected areas in the Bismarck Sea, one of the most biologically diverse area on earth, by 2021. This will triple marine protected area coverage in Papua New Guinea. The proposed areas include coastal areas around Tikana and Lavongai islands (2,500 square kilometres) and offshore areas identified as high priority marine areas for conservation in New Ireland Province (5,000 square kilometres).

Papua New Guinea reaffirms its commitment to designate national marine sanctuaries in 10% of its offshore waters by 2025, and to establish a variety of marine protected areas in 10% of its territorial waters and the coastline by 2025, including 2.5% of territorial waters under a combination of no-take zones and zones which allow fishing only by customary landowners for subsistence use.

The European Union announced a project worth EUR 7 million to protect marine ecosystems and to promote exchange of knowledge on the effective management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) between Atlantic and South East Asia Regions. Marine Protected Areas can play a catalytic role in promoting stability through fostering better cooperation and understanding between countries and communities across borders.

The European Union announced that it has launched a new version of the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) Explorer, providing the most advanced global information system characterising the world’s terrestrial, marine and coastal protected areas. DOPA Explorer pulls together data from multiple sources, including from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the EU. The latest version of the online database (http://dopa-explorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) includes a completely revised interface that can be used on multiple devices (PCs, tablets and smartphones)

The European Union announced to finance a regional support programme for the sustainable management of natural resources in Pacific Overseas Countries and Territories. With this support, worth EUR 7 million from the 11th European Development Fund, reef and lagoon resources and aquaculture are to be managed in a more sustainable, integrated and adaptive way for Pacific island economies facing severe difficulties from climate change.

Japan announced allocation of USD 276,300 in total in FY2018 to develop international information sharing network mechanism and to promote data analysis through the East Asia Regional Meeting under “Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN),” which Japan is in charge of data from East Asia region and to promote “The Action Plan 2016-2020 to Conserve Coral Reef Ecosystem in Japan Leaf.” Those purposes are to conserve coral leaf ecosystem, which is suffering from large-scale bleaching all over the world.

The United Kingdom announced that it will publish a cross-Government International Ocean Strategy by the end of 2018. It will set out the UK’s contribution to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 through effective global governance and international cooperation.

The United Kingdom reaffirmed its commitment made in the UN General Assembly in September 2018 to actively support a trebling of current targets to ensure that 30% of the ocean is designated as Marine Protected Areas by 2030.

The United Kingdom reaffirmed that it is taking concrete action to ensure the protection of over 4 million square kilometres of ocean in both UK domestic waters and around its Overseas Territories across the globe, spanning large areas of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans. Up to USD 25 million is being spent to ensure that these Blue Belt areas are properly managed, monitored and have appropriate enforcement regimes for long-term protection.

The Australian Government boosted the protection of Australian Marine Parks with five new management plans covering an additional 2.3 million kilometres of Australian waters. Australia now has 60 marine protected areas covering a total of 3.2 million square kilometres.

The Australian Government allocated USD 40 millions to implement the MPA management arrangements including engaging with the community, scientists and industry.

The Australian and Queensland governments – in partnership with experts from conservation, industry, indigenous and other community groups – have detailed a 35-year Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan for the Great Barrier Reef. The Plan sets out the high priority activities needed to build the health and resilience of the Reef in face of changing climate.

The Australian allocated USD 1.4 million to support co-hosting of the International Coral Reef Initiative working with Indonesia and Monaco

The Australian allocated USD 360 millions commitment of new funding is entirely focused on protection the Reef, by addressing a range of local pressures that ensure sustainable use. It will includes improve water quality, reduce the damaging coral loss caused by the crown of thorns starfish, and with indigenous communities to improve protected area management, work on options for restoring and adapting corals affected by heatwaves and cyclones and Marine Park Field Management Program.

New Caledonia announces its commitment to highly protect its seamounts, as well as its isolated islets of Walpole, Matthew and Hunter (all within the Coral Sea Natural Park) by the end of 2019. New Caledonian EEZ hosts approximately 150 seamounts that are still poorly known, with at least 1300 known species of fish, corals and other invertebrates. Walpole, Matthew and Hunter islets are important breeding sites for endemics seabirds. New Caledonia will lead studies, under the supervision of the Coral Sea Park’s management committee to increase an understanding on these critical ecosystems representing 200.000 km2. The Government of New Caledonia allocated USD 1.45 million for this program.

New Caledonia announces its commitment to jointly create in consultation with neighboring countries by 2020 a regional steering committee together with Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu for a regional management of the Coral Sea which represents 5.000.000 km2.

Germany announced its new project in 2019 to support conserving the marine biodiversity and coastal communities in Sulawesi and the Coral Triangle. Germany will finance this 6 years project with up to USD 8 million.

Germany commits to contribute USD 6 million under the roof of German Development cooperation Germany commits to increase its contribution to the Blue Action Fund in 2018.

Germany contributed to the voluntary trust fund an amount of USD 94,000 for the purpose of covering travel expenses of developing countries with regard to negotiations of the BBNJ agreement in 2018 and intends to continue the support in 2019.

Sweden increases its contribution to the Blue Action Fund in 2018 with 3 million USD.

The United States announced two new five-year programs in Madagascar, the USAID Hay Tao and USAID Mikajy programs, to improve national policies and community-based management of marine and coastal resources with a focus on the Menabe, Sava, and Analanjirofo regions. The Hay Tao activity will support improvements in the enabling environment for community-based biodiversity conservation and sustainable development approaches, while the Mikajy activity will support site-specific conservation work to reduce threats to biodiversity and establish the groundwork for more sustainable biodiversity-friendly and climate-resilient economic development. Anticipated level of funding, subject to availability of funds, is USD 13 million over five years, 2018-2023.

Indonesia with support from GEF announces allocation of 11.2 million USD from 2019-2022 through Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program-CTI (COREMAP-CTI) to improve management effectiveness of 4.65 hectares of MPAs in West Papua, West Nusa Tenggara, and Bali Provinces

Indonesia announce commitment in 2019 to allocates through national budget funding 2.3 million USD to improve management effectiveness of 10 national MPAs and 24 provincial MPAs as well as to designate new MPA

Indonesia announces commitment to protect its sensitive marine ecosystem area from maritime activity disturbance through proposing Nusa Penida MPA to International Maritime Organisation as Particular Sensitive Sea Area

Indonesia pledge funding 72,000 USD in 2019 through Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space to identify areas that suitable for grouper and sea weed culture in 16 provinces that is sustainable and support conservation objective of the area

Indonesia pledge funding 79,000 USD in 2019 through National Institute of Aeronautics and Space to disseminate 24 potential sustainable fisheries area to support the sustainable management of nearby MPAs..

Indonesia through the Hydrography and Oceanography Center of Indonesian Navy commits to charting 8 Marine National Parks as Marine Protected Areas into Indonesian Nautical Chart. The 8 Marine National Parks are Komodo Marine National Park, Thousand Islands Marine National Park, Karimun Jawa Marine National Park, Bunaken Marine National Park, Wakatobi Marine National Park, Takabonerate Marine National Park, Tomini Bay Marine National Park, and Cendrawasih Bay Marine National Park. The charting will complete by 2019.

France committed by 2019 to launch a national plan to protect cetaceans and will carry out two studies: the first to identify the most toxic chemical products for coral reefs by 2018, the second to examine what are the key factors of coral reefs autoresilience to climate change in the Pacific. In addition, France will support the creation of MPAs in international waters, with the aim of fostering one creation by 2022. Finally, the French Development Agency will contribute in 2018 with a USD 2.85 million grant to the Blue Action fund dedicated to NGO’s initiatives in MPAs, for biodiversity preservation, reconstitution of fish stock and improvement of living condition of local population.

Peru is committed to moving forward the process of creating the Reserva Nacional Mar Tropical Grau (National Reserve Tropical Sea Grau), which is at the technical proposal level with the aim of its implementation in 2019. This area has a marine surface of approximately 1156 km2, which includes Isla Foca, Cabo Blanco – El Ñuro, Arrecife de Punta Sal, and Banco de Máncora sectors, in the Departments of Piura and Tumbes; thus contributing to the conservation of a sample of the ecosystems of the Guayaquil ecoregion, located in Peru, which has the greatest biological diversity of the Peruvian sea, and is an important area for the sustenance of artisanal fisheries.

Peru is also making progress in the process of creating a Marine Protected Area off the coast of the Department of Ica. This technical proposal, which is expected to be implemented by 2020, covers a marine area of approximately 50,000 km2 for the conservation of biological diversity associated with seamounts, which are biological hotspots with one of the highest levels of marine biological endemism in the world.

Poland announce the committment of 930 633,10 EUR funding until 30 October 2020 for the marine protection plan project of the Natura 2000 area, Ławica Słupska. Poland also committed for future work on marine protection through joint international and cross-border cooperation as well as joint regional work within Helsinki Commission-Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM)

The Government of The Bahamas announce its commitment to declare and legally establish 43 newly proposed marine protected areas covering more than 32,779 km2 (8.1 million acres) of the Bahamas marine area. This commitment will assist the Bahamas to meet its target to set aside 20% of marine protected areas by the year 2020.

UNESCO World Herritage Program announce a major new global initiative that will build cutting edge climate adaptation strategies across UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral systems over the next 4 years. The initiative is the first ever such commitment. It covers 5 of the world’s best known UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The initiative is led by a global consortium of private sector foundations in collaboration with UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine Programme and has a total initial value of USD 9 million.

UN Environment together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy commits to a new global effort to support development of effective Marine Protected Areas to achieve SDG14, target 5. The project will funded by Italian Development Corporation at total 1,300,000 Euro over two years (completion date: July 2020). The new project will be implemented by UN Environment in collaboration with a range of experts and partner organizations, including Open Communications for the Ocean, Ocean Sanctuary Alliance, Caribbean Environment Programme, and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is committed to support the AMS in the next 2-3 years (approximately worth USD 500,000), to achieve healthy ocean environment by increasing the number of marine AHPs and by supporting conservation projects in coastal and marine AHPs.

Blue Finance commits to improve the effective management and sustainable financing of Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia before 2020 and the projects will contribute to the sustainable use of more than 150km2 of coral reefs. The project development fund is about US$200,000 with a projected investment of approximately US$ 6 million.

Marine Conservation Institute will increase from 10 sites by the end of 2019 to managed MPA. MCI commits USD 500,000 per year through 2020 to improving accurate reporting of these goals through the Atlas of Marine Protection and the continuous and ongoing improvement in the quality of marine protected areas by recognizing and elevating exemplary areas through the Global Ocean Refuge System.

Perkumpulan Penggerak Usaha Dan Penghidupan Masyarakat Asli Raja Ampat (PERJAMPAT)/Stay Raja Ampat pledges USD 3 million per annum amount of revenue generation from community enterprise program, create 1,000 new jobs for local community in 50 villages in 25 islands, and assist community based monitoring of the Raja Ampat MPAs for the next 5 years period of time.

Coral Triangle Center commits to invest 6 million USD to train 3,000 people in marine protected area competencies in the next 3 years CTC commits to invest 6 million USD to train 3,000 people in marine protected area competencies through the establishment of Center for Marine Conservation in Bali and International MMAF Independent Training Center (Pusat Pelatihan Mandiri Kelautan dan Perikanan – P2MKP), engagement of local communities through the development of innovative outreach tools combining culture, art, and technology.

Bawah Anambas Foundation also commits to allocating USD 270,000 by the end of 2019 to support the management of Marine Protected Areas in the Anambas by: Conserve and rehabilitate the Utilization Zone for Tourism in Bawah Island covering 997 ha by implementing landscape approach, empower the community of Kiabu, Mengkait, and Telaga in the Anambas district to improve the management of MPA, covering up to 831.65 ha, provide alternative livelihood programme for the community of the Anambas district to reduce their reliance on the ocean.

The Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) announced its commitment to host the lead International Project Office (IPO) of Future Earth Coasts (FEC) for an initial period of three years (2019-2021), and to provide direct annual funding of 150.000 EUR.Delivered by ZMT, the FEC IPO will serve as a central hub that also seeks to facilitate transregional cooperation as well as the coordination and management of diverse stakeholder networks around issues of concern to global oceans and coasts – including scientists, governmental, economic and civil society actors.

Coral Guardian announced the creation of the Blue Center, a training center for community-based marine conservation, mainly dedicated to the preservation of coral reefs, in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. The goal of the Blue Center is to train between 2018 and 2021 around 30 projects’ holders from different coastal communities in the world to be able to launch their own coral conservation program. The target of the Blue Center is to duplicate such conservation projects regionally and in other parts of the world. Coral Guardian announced the training of former seaweed farmers from Nusa Penida and fishermen from Colombia by 2019.

Blue Abadi Fund (BAF) announced to raise fund amounting USD 40 million to establish Endowment Funds, in order to provide continuous finance for marine conservation efforts in Bird’s Head Seascape (BHS) covering Raja Ampat, Kaimana, Fakfak, Tambraw, & Teluk Cendrawasih, Indonesia. Currently BAF have secured USD 23.4 million from various donors.

PT Astra Daihatsu Motor Indonesia will support USD 75,000 USD for 5 sea turtle conservations in Indonesia by 2019, include the construction of a Turtle Sanctuary in Pramuka Island, Kepulauan Seribu which has been inaugurated as the «Turtle Sanctuary Center» by President of the Republic of Indonesia.

Over the next four years Manta Watch commits to invest at least 277,000 USD into strengthening mobulid ray and shark conservation management in Indonesia, including: (i) maintaining or increasing sightings of mobulid rays and other ETP species through the development of evidence-based and participative management approaches that support sustainable tourism development within at least two marine protected areas; (ii) reducing bycatch of mobulid rays by 15% in small-scale drifting gillnet fisheries through technology application and strengthening mobulid conservation and management measures within regional surface fisheries to support sustainable fisheries development; and (iii) increasing research outputs and improving undergraduate training within six Indonesian tertiary education institutes to strengthen Indonesian leadership for shark and ray research and conservation management.

Misool Foundation (Yayasan Misool Baseftin) pledge to continue 24/7 patrols of 120,000 hectare no take zone. Patrols which have led to a 250% increase in fish biomass and 25X the number of sharks compared with outside the zone.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) commits to develop 1.3 million hectares of new MPAs and support the effective management of approximately 2.1 million hectares of MPAs in Indonesia and assist Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Indonesia to develop a strategy to improve 20 million hectares of existing MPAs.

Rare commits to mobilize an additional $53 million USD by 2021 in support of sustainable small-scale fisheries and continued implementation of Fish Forever, a community-rights based coastal fisheries management initiative. Since 2017 Rare have mobilized over $47 million USD, including from the governments of Sweden, Germany and USAID as well as Bloomberg Philanthropies, and remain committed to reaching the $100 million pledged last year. In Indonesia, Rare will work closely with the Provinces of SE Sulawesi and West Papua to build fisheries management capacity and inspire sustainable fishing practices—supporting 15,000 small scale fisher households to manage 500,000 hectares of coastal fishery toward sustainability. Fish Forever continues implementation in Indonesia, Philippines, Mozambique, Brazil, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Rare are announcing the expansion of the program to the Mesoamerican Reef and look forward to working with partners in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) approved a USD 2.85 million contribution to the Blue Action Fund, and committed to more USD 2.85 million in 2019, for improvement of marine and coastal conservation and development of coastal communities in developing countries. The contribution is to be used for the next 5 years.

By 2030, Conservation International committed to raise or leverage at least USD 350M to help transition seven Seascapes to sustainability in the Philippines, Indonesia, Fiji, the Eastern Tropical Pacific, Brazil, Mexico and Kenya. These initiatives will develop representative, well-managed MPA networks, deploy an innovative fisheries recovery model, and design blended finance solutions.

In partnerships with Government of Indonesia and private sectors, Conservation International hereby announces a ‘Blue Halo S’, an innovative/blended financing scheme that would generate at least US$3 millions annually to finance the effective management of the 4.6 million Hectares of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the Bird’s Head Seascapes (BHS) of the West Papua Province by 2025. This an integrated MPAs-sustainable fisheries scheme would be a financing model that can be applied for other seascapes at national or the regional level.

The Global Environment Facilities’s commitment of $50 million dollars to create, expand and improve the effectiveness of over eight (8) million hectares of marine protected areas as part of our new cycle of funding for the next four years. These new funds will protect valuable marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide and thereby support sustainable blue economies.

Sustainable Fisheries

Japan announced its commitment to assist the developing countries in introducing their domestic measures such as traceability- and eco-labels-system for fisheries products through the contribution of USD 383,300 in 2018 to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Japan announced its commitment to assist the developing countries in fulfilling the control and management measures adopted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) through the contribution of USD 363,500 in 2018 to WCPFC and ICCAT.

Japan announced its commitment to assist 10 ASEAN countries in achieving the sustainable fisheries through, inter alia, the adoption of IUU guidelines. In 2018, Japan contributed USD 1.83 million to the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) established by 10 ASEAN countries and Japan for the development of sustainable fisheries.

Japan to assist the developing countries around the Pacific Ocean in human resources development of about 100 personnel for fisheries management such as the real-time collection of information of coastal ecosystem and local fisheries that will be also a countermeasure against unregulated fisheries. In 2018, Japan will contribute CAD 96,383 to the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES).

The Netherlands announced an additional 300.000 euro to further support the development and publication of the Seafood Stewardship Index focusing on the 30 leading companies within the fisheries sector, wild and farmed. The aim is to, through these ‘Keystone Actors’, make the global fisheries’ and aquaculture sector more sustainable. The methodology as is being developed will provide insight into and compare how these 30 largest seafood companies in the world contribute individually to SDG 1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 14 and 15 by 2020 and will be updated every 2 years.

Norway commit to science for better management of fisheries and ecosystems in the Antarctic. Our new ice-capable research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon will in November 2018 embark on a three month cruise to the Antarctic to survey krill populations and study the properties of marine ecosystems. The Norwegain commitment is totally around USD 5,9 million for 2018 and 2019. Krill harvesting in Antarctica is taking place on the basis of international cooperation in the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources).

Federate States of Micronesia announced a commitment to achieve 100% electronic monitoring (e-monitoring) coverage on industrial fishing vessels operating in its waters by 2023. E-monitoring utilizes video cameras and other advanced technologies to fill critical science and compliance monitoring data gaps in fisheries. These data gaps impede sustainable tuna fisheries management and threaten the resilience of the socio-economic benefits that Pacific Islanders accrue from the tuna resources in their waters.

The European Union announced a 36-month project to be implemented together with the government of Indonesia on trade in wildlife products. Among others, the project is to focus on the protection of the Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni). Native to Indonesia, this iconic species has become a very popular aquarium fish among fish keepers worldwide, but as a result, its wild population has been steadily declining according to the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species. The joint project is to facilitate science on the species, their sustained protection as well as develop alternatives for wild harvesting.

The European Union announced its ECOFISH initiative. With a contribution of EUR 28 million, the project is to support sustainable management and development of fisheries, while addressing climate change resilience and enhancing marine biodiversity. In particular, ECOFISH is also to ensure that capacity is strengthened to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the East Africa-Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region,; and to support concrete fisheries management and governance initiatives in small-scale inland and marine fisheries.

The European Union announced that it will commit more than EUR 11 million in 2018 to improve governance, science and capacity building, as well as increase compliance in the 18 Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) and tuna RFMOs in which the EU participates. The support is also to contribute to further cooperation between the different tuna RFMOs under the Kobe process. The EU acknowledged its responsibility to promote sustainable fisheries and combat IUU fisheries.

The European Union announced that legislative proposals have been tabled to strengthen the enforcement of fisheries controls proposing improvements to modernise and simplify the way in which fishing rules are monitored and complied with in the EU. Improving the way in which the EU can monitor the enforcement of EU rules on fisheries will intensify the fight against IUU fishing. The proposals will also further support the effective implementation of the landing obligation, which comes fully into force as of next year and requires that fishermen land all catches to stop the wasteful practice of throwing unwanted fish back to the sea.

The European Unionannounced that it will contribute a minimum of EUR 500.000 in 2018 to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to further to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fisheries.

The European Union as one of the ten signatories to the recently agreed Agreement to prevent unregulated fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, will contribute EUR 4 million for scientific support to the Agreement. Collecting expert scientific advice will be crucial to improve the understanding of the ecosystem(s) of the marine Arctic and, in particular, of determining whether fish stocks might exist in this area that could be harvested on a sustainable basis. The EU has also offered to host the Sixth Meeting of Scientific Experts on Fish Stocks in the Central Arctic Ocean, a meeting of science experts to support the implementation of this agreement, at the site of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra (Italy) in 2019.

The European Union announced a 33 % increase, worth EUR 2.8 million, for the 2018 budget of the Copernicus maritime security service to support IUU fisheries detection and deterrence. This top-up will allow the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) to further carry out fisheries controls via satellite, including tackling IUU fisheries in different parts of the world. The total budget for Copernicus maritime security service for 2018 will be EUR 7.9 million

Thailand commits to applied the “Fisheries Improvement Project: FIP to the total fishing areas of the Thai waters (323,488 km2.) in the year 2021. High economic value fishes and major fishing gears will be appropriately managed. Upon the launching of FIP, local fishing community will get the most out of it and be strengthened as well.

In 2019, Thailand commits to establish at least 20 coastal fisheries management areas using community based ecosystem approach. The activities included are organizing fishing communities, capacity building on fisheries management concept, seed releasing program such as crab bank 8 thousand million crab juveniles and setting conservation measures such as mesh size and fishing gear regulation, closes area and closed season. All activities will be done according to the consensus of fishing communities who are the resource user and directly get benefit from the sustainability of marine resources.

Ireland announced investment in the order of USD 1.7 million in a programme to upgrade current Naval Service ICT systems which support Ireland’s fishery protection regime within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy. The programme will be run out over 2019/20.

The United States announced the new USAID Fish Right Program in the Philippines which seeks to increase fish stocks in key areas by improving fisheries management and building the resilience of fishing communities. The five-year cooperative agreement to the University of Rhode Island is expected to benefit up to 2 million Filipinos in coastal communities in Calamianes, Southern Negros, and Visayan Seas. The program will also ensure that women and other marginalized groups benefit from and are empowered to participate in conserving and managing coastal and fisheries resources. Anticipated funding level, subject to availability of funds, is USD 25 million over five years, 2018-2023.

Ireland announced that by the end of 2018 it will have completed a USD 286 million naval vessel replacement programme involving the purchase of four larger more capable offshore patrol vessels tasked primarily with maritime surveillance and fishery protection.

The United States announced additional support for biodiversity conservation for Northern Hispaniola through USAID’s Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program. The activity will support marine biodiversity conservation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the community-based and policy levels, working with Ministries of Environment and related government and non-governmental stakeholders. The program will continue the ongoing development of a bi-national action plan for sustainable fisheries management. An additional USD 1 million was made available to the Caribbean Marine Biodiversity Program for activities in 2018-2019.

Chile is committed to Protect 98% (3,599,216 square kilometers) of its Exclusive Economic Zone from bottom trawling. This measure takes the form of freezing the fishing footprint for the hake and demersal crustacean fisheries, which use bottom trawling nets. The activitiy is expected to complete all the necessary procedures by the end of 2018.

Indonesia announced its commitment to implement electronic fishing logbook to Indonesian fishing vessels authorized to operate in 11 Fisheries Management Areas of the Republic of Indonesia and the High Seas. This program will be started at the end of 2018 for 3.887 fishing vessels over 30 GT, whereas in 2019 it will include 10.984 fishing vessels over 10 GT. The total budget for initiating the implementation of e-logbook is USD442.863 (IDR6,2 billions) for the mentioned years. The program will be implemented in collaboration with fishing port authorities (central and local governments), harbormasters (MMAF and MOT), and USAID (OCEAN) aiming to improve the quality and quantity of data as a foundation for making strong policy in fisheries management; to strengthen the traceability system for Indonesia fisheries products; to promote fishers’ compliance; and to prevent Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing activities in general.

Indonesia announces its commitment in expanding the assignment coverage of observer onboard fishing vessels operating in 11 Fisheries Management Areas of the Republic of Indonesia and the High Seas starting in 2019. This program will include 100 observers, 350 fishing vessels, and 300.000 observation days with the budget of USD846.429 (IDR11,85 billions) for year 2019. The program will be conducted in collaboration with fishing port authorities (central and local governments), harbormasters (MMAF), and Indonesian Fisheries Associations aiming to promote Indonesia compliance to RFMOs; to improve the quality and quantity of data as a foundation for making strong policy in fisheries management; to strengthen the traceability system for Indonesia fisheries products; to promote fisher compliance; to prevent Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing; and to mitigate the impact to Ecologically Related Species (ERS).

Indonesia announced its commitment in certifying 1200 export-oriented fishing vessels with Good Fish Handling Practice (CPIB) in 538 fishing ports in Indonesia. This program will be conducted starting in 2019 to 2021. Each year will target 400 fishing vessels and will be allocated with a budget of USD 85.714/year (IDR1,2 billions/year). The program will be done in collaboration with fishing port authorities (central and local governments), harbormasters (MMAF), fisheries inspectors, Offices of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Directorate of Fishing Vessels and Fishing Gears, and BKIPM aiming to ensure the implementation of system of quality assurance and safety of Indonesia fisheries products.

Indonesia allocates budget USD 6.754.000 for boosting fisheries production by using biofloc aquaculture technology, the budget is splitted in 3 years from 2017 – 2019. There are 550 pcgs (packages) covering locations in Java, Sumatera, Kalimantan, Papua, Bali and Sulawesi. The target production is 3.6 tones pcgs/cycle.

Indonesia committed to allocate USD 3 million for fish stock assessment for 2018-2021

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific Industrial and Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in collaboration with Indonesia’s Center for Fisheries Research commit to deliver a bilingual web-based tool to improve the fish identification skills of enumerators and other fisheries staff tasked with data collection on catch in Indonesia’s marine fisheries. The web tool, “fishIDER”, has particular focus on improving skills for identification of fish in the market situation, where fish are often in less-than-fresh condition and have lost key identifying features. The website development total funding of USD 480,000.

Peru commits to strengthening artisanal fishing through enacted two Legislative Decrees: No. 1392 which promotes the formalization of artisanal fishing activity and No. 1393 which regulates interdiction actions. These measures regulate fishing activity for vessels over 6.48 gross tonnage and up to 32.6 m3 of storage capacity, to avoid affecting the sustainability of hydrobiological resources caused by extractive activities. It will benefit fishermen who may have fishing permits. In addition, it seeks to combat illegal fishing activities and those related to them, to help ensure the sustainability of natural resources. This is a formalization process that will last two years and by the end of this period is expected to have made official approximately 2800 boats.

Oceana commits to improving fisheries transparency by working with three countries to make their vessel monitoring system (VMS) data public to the world by 2022.

Yayasan Alam Indonesia Lestari (LINI), an Indonesian partner of SFP in the implementation of the Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) in Indonesia,committed to expand the coverage and scope of fisheries to be part of the new FIPs, or participate in the current FIPs to achieve the target of 75 % of world production in key sectors, at a minimum, either sustainable or in a formal FIPs that making verifiable improvements in 2020.

The International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) will continue to support one-by-one tuna fisheries in the region with over USD 1.6 million supporting work to transition six Indonesian pole-and-line and handline tuna fisheries to MSC full assessment by the end of 2019, industry capacity building and national fishery policy development. USD 1 million will go towards advancing the position of small-scale tuna fisheries at RFMOs and piloting a one-by-one exclusive fishing zone in St. Helena. To achieve these goals, IPNLF has leveraged funding from the Walton Family Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, Oceans5 and industry partners.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC’s) commits to increasing the impact and accessibility of the program, particularly to fisheries in the Global South. It will introducing a Sustainable Fisheries Fund, which will be initially seeded with USD 1,28 million, to help fisheries on their journey to sustainability.

Marine Stewardship Council commits to improving the sustainability of fishing practices in Indonesia as additional activities for ‘Fish for Good’ project at South Africa and Mexico. The funding contribution is from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, totaling USD 2 million scheduled for completion in 2021.

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership committed to set an interim target that, by 2020, 75% of world production in key sectors is – at a minimum – either sustainable or in a formal FIP (Fishery Improvement Project) or AIP (Aquaculture Improvement Project) making regular, verifiable improvements.

Misool Foundation through the Lamakera program in Flores is committed to ensuring that the targeted Manta catch remains below 20% of 2015 levels while our fishers cooperative assists 100 ex manta fishers to develop alternative, sustainable livelihoods with the assistance of micro finance and capacity building.

Chicken of the Sea (Thai Union North America) and Monterey Bay Aquarium announce SeaChange Ignite, a collaboration to advance new sustainability initiatives and improvements throughout the supply chain and accelerate Thai Union’s SeaChange Sustainability Strategy. The combined commitment for all initiatives is $73 million over seven years (2018 – 2025) and will focus on improvements in Southeast Asia and other regions. SeaChange Ignite will support improvements to key enabling conditions necessary for sustainability, including direct economic incentives to producers, improvement projects and engagement throughout the supply chain. Improvements will be verified toward Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch “Good Alternative” and “Best Choice” ratings, providing new opportunities to source sustainable products to the North American market. SeaChange Ignite will engage governments, industry and stakeholders with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Monterey Bay Aquarium through the Southeast Asia Fisheries and Aquaculture Initiative to enhance new, comprehensive approaches for sustainable development.

The World Benchmarking Alliance commit to invest 700,000 U$ / annually to assess the world’s largest seafood companies to map how and to what extent these contribute to the SDGs closest to the core of the business (1, 2, 5, 8, 12, 14 and 15). The index will be updated every other year (2019, 2021, 2023, etc.) to monitor companies’ progress over time.

The Asosiasi Perikanan Pole & Line dan Handline Indonesia (AP2HI) will provide the market with up to 16,000 mt of Marine Stewardship Council certified tuna by 2020, the training of fishery stakeholders on natural resource management and biodiversity conservation, the registration of fishing vessels for AP2HI members, and support for fishery data collection such as on-board observer deployments and port-side enumerators for fishery managers to achieve sustainability objectives. AP2HI will leverage up to USD 500,000 from strategic partners such as USAID-SEA Project, UNIDO and AP2HI members.

Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia commit to support improved provincial fisheries management processes by establishing one fisheries co-management committee in each of six provinces by the end of 2019. To support community empowerment, MDPI will expand the Fair Trade certification of small-scale tuna fisheries to reach a total of 1,500 fishermen by 2021. MDPI also supports the full assessment of small-scale handline tuna fisheries for MSC certification by the first quarter of 2019. To achieve these goals, MDPI has leveraged funds from Walton, Packard, USAID and industry partners, totaling USD 2,110,000.

The Sustainable Coastal Squads Indonesia commits to an education program for fishermen and students in Indonesia by compiling and distributing 10.000 copies of books, pamphlets, or brochures about sustainable fisheries with a USD 100,000 fund.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education (Kemdikbud) and Geospatial Information Agency (Bakosurtanal) Indonesia, the Sustainable Coastal Squads will conduct a training program on sustainable fisheries for 1,000 fishermen and 9,000 students in 100 coastal areas in Indonesian with a fund of USD 100,000.

Stop Illegal Fishing commits to support the implementation of port state measures in Africa. By working closely with the FAO Global Capacity Development Programme for the Port State Measures Agreement, Stop Illegal Fishing will implement a capacity building project over a period of four years starting in 2018, with USD 1.5 million finance from the GIZ. African ports are particularly critical to the global implementation of port State measures and Stop Illegal Fishing will focus support on building expertise to identify, inspect and investigate vessels that have been operating illegally. Our work will provide support in ten African ports and, by developing practical tools and supporting information exchange mechanisms between port, coastal and flag States, our aim is to maximise the opportunity offered by this first international agreement aimed at ending illegal fishing and to learn from and share these experiences internationally.

ReefScan reaffirms its commitment to empower innovative adaptation for coastal resilience and disseminate the voices of vulnerable small scale fisher communities as they tackle climate change and failing ecosystems combined with pressures from intensive illegal fishing operations. This includes extending the “Environmental Witness” project from Asia to Africa and South America. Combining ongoing genetics and ecosystems research at Exeter Marine, ReefScan is developing artificial intelligence initiatives to empower knowledge of marine biodiversity across a broad range of stakeholders, from scuba divers to artisanal fishers. This development is also integrated in a new project with FAO designed to aid the understanding of the significant data gap regarding non-fin Shark and Ray commodities which have been overshadowed by a focus on fin orientated elasmobranch products. Initially deployed in key regions of importance globally, the project will provide a foundation for improved decision making in ecosystem service based management of Sharks and Rays.

Conservation International announced an initiative to implement best practices for aquaculture governance, focusing on ecosystem-based approaches to incentivize improved fiscal, environmental, and social performance. This will be piloted first in Indonesia for three years, supporting the government’s priorities in sustainable aquaculture and joining private sector commitments to improve the sustainability of the sector. The target deliverables are aquaculture landscape design and technical recommendation for improving the currently non-sustainable practices to more sustainable pathways.

Wildlife Conservation Society is launching a new USD 25 million, 10 x 10 Initiative for Sharks and Rays as WCS’s global shark and ray conservation strategy, with the central aim to establish science-based, comprehensive, well enforced shark management regimes in 10 key geographies globally over the next 10 years. At the end of the 10 x 10 initiative in 2029, the conservation status of 75% of the world’s sharks and rays will have improved, with global declines among those species slowed or halted, and extinctions prevented. The 10 x 10 Initiative for Sharks and Rays will focus on the following priority areas: protecting species; conserving habitat; managing fisheries; controlling trade; research and engagement. The underlying vision of the 10 x 10 Initiative is that sharks and rays are effectively protected and sustainably managed, delivering ecological and socio-economic benefits to people and ecosystems.

Coral Triangle Center commits to allocate $155.000 to train leaders and fisheries managers in Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 712, 714 and 715 to be able to incorporate up-front management principles that link to FMA specific goals and objectives in fisheries management and to incorporate it into sustainable management planning framework in subnational, provincial and district level in 2019.

ADM Capital Foundation is committed to allocating at least USD 500,000 year over the next three years, to support the reform of fisheries in Asia, combatting marine pollution and climate change resilience. This is to be achieved by supporting i) research and related activities to inform policy dialogue and regulatory change; and ii) specific projects that focus on: fisheries management and the unsustainable seafood supply chain. We are also committed to supporting initiatives that address the use and disposal of single use plastics.

Eachmile commits to have the mFish platform available in more than 50 countries in 10 languages. mFish provides mobile services to small-scale fishermen at $0 cost of data and allows them to access market and weather information, as well as easily report their catch data for traceability and fisheries management purposes.

Proven Force Indonesia and its partners commit to invest USD 62.5 million in order to upgrade gasoline/diesel engines use by the fisheries sector with clean propulsion solutions and deliver a range of associated features and benefits during 4 year period between 2019 – 2022.

Marine Pollution

Indonesia commits to reduce waste by 30% and to handle waste properly by 70% of total waste generation in 2025. The target is legally stated on Presidential Regulation No. 97 Year 2017 regarding National Policy and Strategy on Solid Waste Management. Waste reducing is done through waste prevention, waste recycling, and waste reusing at the source of solid waste generation including plastic bag restriction, community-based composting, and waste bank as an instrument for implementation of community-based 3Rs to improve social cohesion and economic opportunities at community level. This in-land based approach aim to prevent litter’s leakage to the ocean

Indonesia declares National Plan of Action to combat marine debris 2018 to 2025 as stated in Presidential Regulation No. 83/2018, which involved 16 Ministries, Local Governments, Private Sectors, and NGOs with total planed budget USD 1 Billion and commits to carry out public awareness raising programs through communication, information, and education activities in order to succeed the agenda for reducing marine litter and micro-plastics.

Indonesia and 17 other countries under East Asia Summit would declare EAS Leader’s Statement on combating Marine Plastic Debris and to reduce minimum 25% of inter boundaries marine plastic litter.

Indonesia will utilize plastic bag wastes to substitute the bitumen 5-7% of asphalt for road construction in the period of 2018 to 2025 and commits to accelerate the implementation of energy recovery of solid waste using environment friendly technology in 12 cities through the implementation of Presidential Regulation No. 35 Year 2018 using public private partnership scheme.

Indonesia through Ministry of Environment, Local Governments, and Civil Society/NGO will promote 40 local government acts by 2025 to stop using plastic bag in modern market and commits to develop the roadmap of waste reduction by the producer as fundamental aspect to implement extended producer responsibility and circular economy.

Japan allocated USD 167 million to build a marine litter’s monitoring technology and international cooperation with Asian countries.

Japan announced the allocation of USD 1.16 million for the launch of the WebGIS “MDA Situational Indication Linkages (MSIL)” in early 2019. MSIL is able to collect and share marine-related information for multipurpose including maritime environment conservation and maritime industry promotion.

The Netherlands announced USD 113,000 to support the embedding of best practice of the management of fishing gear in Indonesia through the Global Ghost Gear Initiative as a follow-up to the work done during the pilot project in 2017. By embedding and improving current management practices for gillnets, including gear marking, end-of-life net management, lost gear reporting and other best practices, the alliance expects to significantly reduce fishing gear being lost and abandoned by 2025 in a critical hotspot area and protect more than one million marine animals by 2018.

The Netherlands announced it makes USD 11.4 million available for the period 2018-2022 to promote innovations to reduce microplastic emissions from plastic litter, car tyres, paint and clothing into the aquatic environment and for research into the effects of microplastics on human health.

The Netherlands announced it will promote circular design in production by training product developers of at least 10% of all producing companies in the Netherlands through workshops on circular design of products, packaging and business models by 2022.

The Netherlands announced that it will work towards a concrete international green deal promoting circular design with the Indonesian government and multinational companies in 2019. The objective is to reduce the amount of small single use plastic packaging brought to the Indonesian market during the period 2019-2025, thus reducing plastic pollution of the oceans substantially.

Chile’s commits to eliminate the delivery of plastic bags by local commerce. In 2019 will enter into force the law that will prohibit all local commerce to deliver plastic bags, small and medium companies will have until 2020 for disposal. With this, the year 2020 Chile will be a country free of plastic bags from commerce. Chile is also implementing a campaign to end the use of plastic straws.

The European Union announced a project worth EUR 9 million to reduce plastic waste and marine litter in South East Asia. The project is to support a transition to sustainable consumption and production of plastic and contribute to significantly reduce marine litter, including by supporting European approaches, policies and business models. The project will focus on China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, but is also to support indirectly countries in the Mekong Region and in the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As part of the recently launched plastics strategy, the EU is committed to working with partners around the world to come up with global solutions on marine pollution.

The European Union announced, as part of its plastics strategy, that it has initiated work on 1) new rules on packaging to improve the recyclability of plastics and increase the demand for recycled plastic, 2) new measures to curb plastic waste and littering, with a focus on single-use plastics and fishing gear (including a new legislative proposal published on 28 May 2018 and currently under discussion) and the use of micro-plastics on products and on 3) developing harmonised rules for the definition and labelling of biodegradable and compostable plastics.

The European Union announced further support for its plastics strategy by allocating EUR 100 million under its Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme to finance innovation on the development of smarter and more recyclable plastic materials, improving recycling chains as well as tracing and removing hazardous substances and contaminants from recycled plastics.

The European Union announced the upgrade of its mobile application (Floating Macro Litter Monitoring Application) monitoring riverine ocean pollution. While in the past the app was mainly used by scientists, version 2.0 will be made accessible to the general public. Not much is known about the amount of marine pollution coming from rivers, but by extending the app to a broader user audience, this knowledge is to further improve.

The European Union announced to support a waste management programme for the Pacific region. The EU will provide EUR 17 million to support Pacific countries in addressing issues relating to health and well-being, marine litter and biodiversity conservation

The European Commission, together with the United Nations Environment Programme and with the support of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, the European Union of Aquarium Curators, the World Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the US Aquarium Conservation Partnership and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, announced that they will coordinate a global coalition of 200 aquariums by 2019 to raise public awareness about plastic pollution. Aquariums will be engaged in permanent activities in their facilities and in communication actions via all possible channels. They will be invited to change their procurement policies, for example in canteens and shops, to eliminate all single use plastic items. They will also be encouraged to ally with all potential partners and multipliers, such as sponsors, funders and NGOs, to maximise impact by promoting best practices in behavioural change on a local, regional, national and global scale.

The United States announced USD 1 million in funding over two years, 2018-2020, to help prevent marine debris from entering the ocean through the development of environmentally sustainable waste management systems and reductions in the amount of fishing gear abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded in the ocean.

The United States announced two new grants under USAID’s Municipal Waste Recycling Program to reduce plastics in marine protected areas in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, and the Palawan Island in the Philippines. Grants will support the efforts of the Yayasan Misool Baseftin organization in the Raja Ampat Islands and the city of Sorong, and the Candis III Marketing Cooperative out of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan Island. These new grants are funded through USAID’s Municipal Waste Recycling Program announced at Our Ocean Conference 2017. Anticipated level of funding, subject to the availability of funds, is USD 500,000 over two years, 2018-2020.

The United States announced the release of a documentary, The Sea That Sustains Us, which features Timorese residents addressing the issue of pollution in the ocean. The film, produced by USAID and inspired by the findings of a three-year NOAA study of Timor-Leste’s nearshore marine environment, illustrates the real world consequences of plastic pollution in the world’s ocean waters. The film is at once a celebration of the biodiversity of Timor’s waters, a warning about the threats they face, and a call to action to protect a resource that is integral to their lives.

Turkey commits to implement Zero Waste Project for one marine in 2018 and all marinas will implement a management aiming to prevent waste generation, collecting waste separately, recovering, contributing to the economy, reducing carbon emission, and not sending waste to the municipal landfill site. All marinas will finance their zero waste systems according to their areas and needs by their own project. Furthermore, Zero Waste regulation has been drafted and it is planned to enter into force in 2019.

Thailand committed to encourage approximately 10,000 commercial fishing vessels in Thailand to collect marine debris from the fishing nets during their operation at least 1 kilogram/day/vessel for recycling and other purposes. it is targeted that in the year 2019, 350 tonnage of marine debris will be minimally eliminated.

UN Environment, the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) and Sweden/Sida commit to reducing marine litter from land based sources in East Asian Seas, by addressing management of the plastic value chain. USD 6.5M of new funding will be used towards identifying and scaling up market-based solutions and appropriate regulatory and fiscal incentives; strengthening the science-basis for decision making; outreach towards increased public awareness and consumer behavioural change; and regional networking, coordination and stakeholder engagement towards coherent and effective action. This implements key provisions of the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, and directly delivers on Sustainable Development Goal 14 target 1 and Goal 12 target 5.

Norway is setting up a program to assist developing countries in combatting marine litter and micro-plastics. USD 11.5 M have been committed to the World Bank’s fund PROBLUE in 2018. The funding includes support to sustainable fisheries management. USD 38 M will be allocated in 2019, and for the period 2019-2022 the ambition is to reach a total of USD 153 M to assist this effort.

The European JPI Oceans is committing to new funding upwards of USD 9 M for cutting-edge international research into microplastics in the marine environment from 2020 onwards. The Research will focus on the major microplastic sources especially macroplastic fragmentation, on new analytic methodologies including for nano-sized particles, on effects on the marine environment as well on concepts to reduce inputs of plastics into the marine environment. By creating the necessary international knowledge base for action, this new research will thus contribute to SDG14 as well as the G7 and G20 Action Plans to Combat Marine Litter.

JAMSTEC will contribute to scientific understanding of marine pollution with thin and widely spread microplastics through“Development of Automated Microplastic Analysis Method with Hyperspectral Camera” project which will be completed in 2022 and the “Improvement of Plastic Debris Measurement Technology in Seafloor Sediment” project which will be completed in 2020. The project will spend USD 0.34 million.

JAMSTEC allocated USD 3.8 million to the “Deep-sea Debris Database” project in 2017-2018. This database provides marine debris data for public, and contributes to visual awaking that the marine pollution by human beings extends to the deep ocean. Data is collected from deep-sea videos and photos, taken during research surveys by submersible, “SHINKAI6500”, “HYPER-DOLPHIN”, etc., owned by JAMSTEC. Database provides lists of debris classified by shapes or materials, location of debris sunken to deep-sea, and also videos and photos of debris. b) This database research were featured 180 times in the media within 28 countris and the page view was 0.34 million in FY 2017-18. (Marpol’s note: it is already passed away’s commitment)

The Global Environment Facility is committed to promoting a circular economy approach of closed loop production and consumption. The GEF will invest in public-private partnerships that work along the entire lifecycle of plastic by promoting alternative sustainable materials, rethinking product design toward circularity, raising consumer awareness to create market demand for sustainable products, using technology to improve collection and ensuring efficient recycling that feeds back into material needs. Based on this circular economy approach the GEF commits to reducing 50,000 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean as part of our recently approved 4 year funding cycle from 2018-2022.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and its partners Surfrider Europe Foundation, the Tara Expeditions Foundation, the Mava Foundation and the IUCN announced that they will invest USD 570.000 in 2019 for the development of the Beyond Plastic Med initiative which supports concrete projects to curb plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.

Circulate Capital and Ocean Conservancy announced of at least USD 150 million of investment capital for waste and recycling innovations, companies, and projects that prevent plastic waste from entering the ocean over a 10-year period for East Asian and Indian Countries.

The World Bank commits more than $1 billion over the next seven years to advance the sustainable oceans and Blue Economy agenda in developing countries, including $250 million to specifically address marine litter and pollution. The World Bank’s commitment to address marine litter and pollution over the next six years in developing countries includes the following. $150 million for pollution and watershed management in China, and $100 million to Indonesia to improve solid waste management services for urban populations in selected cities. In China, the project will aim at reducing levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides in water. The funding to Indonesia includes World Bank co-financing to a $1.1 billion program to improve solid waste management services for approximately 45 million Indonesian urban residents across 30 metropolitan, large, and medium cities. Considering that 80% of marine plastic pollution comes from land sources, this is a significant commitment for the Oceans Agenda. In participating cities, this program is expected to increase solid waste collection rates to 85% (from an estimated 65%), decrease marine plastic pollution by half, and increase waste reduction rates by 300%.

World Wide Fund announced: ‘No More Plastics in our Ocean’, a three year, USD 7.5 million global initiative, funded by the Norwegian Government. The initiative will help to advance a global governance solution to effectively address the scourge of marine plastic pollution. It will also spur public and private sector commitments towards this goal.The initiative targets the governance structure that needs to be put in place to secure widespread policy commitments at the national and global levels to reduce plastic use and leakage and aims to address the major players in the private sector to encourage widespread implementation of extended producer responsibility schemes, and create scalable change at the city level, through the establishment of a Plastic Pollution-Free Cities programme.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation through UNEPs and EMF’s New Plastics Economy Commitment, 100+ companies representing 25%+ of the plastic packaging market commit to eliminate unnecessary or problematic plastics; move from single-use to reuse models; increase % recycled content; and design all packaging to be 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable, all by 2025. Next to this minimum 15+ governments will sign up to create the enabling conditions through policy and legislation.

Lonely Whale, through Next Wave Porject, commits to intercept and permanently integrate into company products a minimum of 25,000 tons of OBP. Increase demand for OBP by onboarding a minimum of twenty (20) additional companies including for 2018 IKEA, Amazon, Sonos, HP, DBS Bank and Samsung Global. Eliminate across member companies a minimum of 50% of all non-essential plastics by 2025.

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) commits to operationalise 30 scaled solutions projects addressing ghost gear in 15 countries by 2025. The GGGI pledges to double the financial commitment from its members, supporting organisations & governments to USD 2 million in 2019 to ensure the effective scaling of projects aimed at preventing and curing the problem of ALDFG, especially in developing countries. The GGGI will work with 3 market leading certifications schemes, all 13 GGGI signatory countries and UN FAO to implement best practice management of fishing gear by 2021 including the uptake of the UN FAO Guidelines for the Marking of Fishing Gear. The GGGI pledges to help establish baselines and contribute to achieve a net reduction of ghost gear in our oceans on an annual basis by 2030.

Systemic’s Project STOP partner, Borealis AG, commit to provide EUR 4 million initiative to accelerate waste management improvements in South-East Asia to be rolled out in 2018-2019 and then expanding the best practices from Project STOP in Muncar, East Java, to 2 (two) additional cities in Indonesia.

Oceana will launch a new campaign to reduce the production of single-use plastics at the source. With over 200 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and killing of threatened species like turtles and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns by 2020 will deliver results and promote effort beyond recycling.

Think Beyond Plastic will establish Innovation Centre to Create and Research over Plastic Reduction Program and Waste Management in Indonesia to reduce marine plastics leveraging innovation, enterpreneurship and impact investment with focus on circular materials, circular design and the social enterprise by 2019.

The Ocean Race commits to USD 2.5 million program for positive action on plastic pollution prevention and action plans that will help restore ocean health, from each of our future host cities as they sign agreements to be a stopover for The Ocean Race.

The Ocean Race will continue to promote ocean health, sustainable operations and ensure a minimal single-use plastic footprint at any of our race events taking place before the 2021/22 edition.

Food Industry Asia (FIA) is committed to reducing packaging waste and developing sustainable plastics initiatives by supporting and partnering governments and other stakeholders across Asia. In 2018, FIA invested US$150,000 in commissioning a study to understand plastic waste leakage points in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand (which collectively account for a quarter of the annual global marine plastic debris) and assess the impact of current efforts to tackle marine litter. The findings are being used to inform policymakers and develop opportunities for reducing plastic and packaging waste on a large scale. FIA is working with regulators in these countries to develop, enhance and implement guidelines for packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, in line with the commitments of its member companies.

Danone-Aqua announces pioneering commitments to address plastic waste, and invites all Indonesians to join the BijakBerplastik movement.

Danone-Aqua commits to recover more plastic waste collection from the Indonesian environment, in equivalent volume by 2025

Danone-Aqua commits to lead a nationwide campaign of recycling education, and to activate consumer awareness recycling programs in 20 major cities by 2020, reaching 5 million kids and 100 mio consumers by 2025

Danone-Aqua commits to make all plastic packaging 100% recyclable, and to increase the proportion of recycled plastic in our bottles to 50%, by 2025.

ADUPI and partners commits to process plastic waste up to 5.000.000 ton plastic wastes per year by 2025.

The Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement together with Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia pledge to prevent leakage of 3,000 tons of plastic bags, through plastic bag bans implemented in 5 cities by 2019. Work on 10 additional cities per year , preventing 11,000 tons of plastic per year from entering into the oceans, or up to 58,000 tons in total will be the next target in 2020-2025.

The Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP), a five-year (2016-2021) USAID-funded initiative, is designed to reduce land-based sources of marine plastics pollution in Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. With proximity to two oceans, effective solid waste management in these countries is critical to reducing marine plastics waste. The Program provides grants and technical assistance for promising solid waste management and waste recycling efforts in urban areas, enhances their effectiveness, and makes recommendations for future investments in mitigating marine debris. The MWRP ensures its activities are responsive to gender considerations through evidence-based analysis, and that the assistance provided and the results achieved are beneficial to women and men. After two years of implementation, the MWRP – with the Development Innovations Group as its prime implementer – is prepared to share important gender-related best practices.

Nestlé announced its ambition to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or re-usable by 2025. Our vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter. We believes that there is an urgent need to minimize the impact of packaging on the environment and tackling it requires a collective approach.

The Coca-Cola Company launched industry-first goal to help collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle and can we sell globally by 2030 and called as World Without Waste. This program will contribute to a circular economy through a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment that includes ongoing work to make all our packaging 100% recyclable by the year 2025 and to include 50% recycled content across all our primary packaging globally by 2030.

Bye Bye Plastic Bags will expand the amount of businesses that will join the KOMITMEN campaign by One Island One Voice. One Island One Voice aims to gather 1000 Komitmen’s by the end of 2018. In the long term, One Island One Voice plans to spread the Komitmen campaign to the 25 locations globally with Bye Bye Plastic Bags teams by 2020 and nationally across 3 locations by end of 2019.

Surfrider Foundation, Kauai Chapter funded in part by US NOAA grant committed to perform 4 Beach Cleanups, 50 Net Patrols and collecting 50 MT from ocer 40 km of coastline per year. The program will be completed in September 2021.

Gringo Trash Tch commits to build a waste network that helps reduce ocean plastic pollution by 25% by 2020 in South East Asia and increase recycling rates by 50% by 2022.

Gringo Trash Tch will create a platform for school recycling programs and marine pollution education in at least 5.000 schools across Indonesia.

Project AWARE announced its commitment to remove the next 1 (one) million plastic waste by the end of 2020. Project AWARE continues to mobilise a global community of citizen scientists – dive leaders and debris activists – and, by the end of 2020, aims to increase the number of Dive Against Debris® surveys submitted by 50%; and the number of dive sites monitored on a monthly basis by 30%. Project AWARE also announced the removal of all single-use plastics from its operations, products and supply chain with immediate effect by end of 2020.

4Oceans commit to pull 3 Million (MM) Kilograms from the Ocean by 2019.

Unilever pledges to working with partners on the collection of sachets to feed the plant and prevent leakage through the CreaSolv® and aim to have approximately 5,000 waste banks by 2020.

Fourth Element pledges to engage Scuba Diving Manufacturers and Brands worldwide to join their quest to reduce plastic pollution by making a commitment to reduce their plastic packaging output. Fourth Element will create a digital platform that will highlight the brands joining the mission and to create a focal point to engage with and encourage all companies in the diving industry to take part and reduce their single use plastic waste. By World Oceans Day 2020, it will be targeted 60% of the major dive manufacturers participating in the initiative along with the objective of 1000 dive centres signed up to support Mission 2020 and to reduce their single use plastic output. 300 Staff hours will be put to ppromoting and managing this commitment and USD 6500 value to cover the set up and running costs of the digital platform ad supporting activities.

Evoware commit to targeting replace 21.714 ton of plastic waste, and reduce 110.216 ton of CO2 from seaweed cultivation, and to increase 364 seaweed farmers income 2.1x and provides extra jobs for 728 people by 2020. The innovation will continuosly to broaden the flexible packaging application, such as cooking oil, seasoning oil, margarine, polybag, and other single use plastic. Some innovation in semi-rigid disposable plastic, such as cup, bowl and straw will also be done.

The International Nitrogen Initiatives (INI) commits to support a global goal to halve nitrogen waste by 2030, offering a resource-saving of $100 billion per year globally, by reducing pollution by 100 million tonnes per year, as a key to protecting Our Oceans with quantified co-benefits for water quality, air quality, biodiversity, climate resilience, food and livelihoods. INI makes this commitment by providing a global science-policy support process for better nitrogen management, the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS), working 2018-2022 in partnership with UN Environment and a global network of over 80 partners from science, governments, agencies and civil society. Over this period, the INMS partnership commits a US 60 million effort, including USD 6 million through the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Wildlife Conservation Society announced to raising awareness and reducing plastics in New York City, USD 102 million over 5 years.

Algalita Marine Research and Education commits to directly and indirectly educating 80,000 young people about plastic pollution prevention through Plastic Ocean Pollution Solutions (POPS) Youth Education and Leadership Programs until the end 2019.

Plastic Recyclers Euro commits that its members would put on the EU market 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics each year by 2025 if certain conditions and legislative measures are put in place.

Misool Foundation through The Bank Sampah program is committed to intercepting and recycling 200 tons of ocean bound plastic from entering the waters of Raja Ampat in 2019. The program engages 7,000+ community members in recycling and brings $50,000 into the community in payments for recyclables.

Bawah Anambas Foundation (BAF) is committed to allocating USD 200,000 to help the management of plastic waste by supporting the Government of Indonesia and work directly with the community. We aim to reduce up to 8 tons of solid waste going into the ocean by the end of 2019 as well as collecting marine debris in the area of the Anambas.

Kaneka announced to invest 2.5 billion JPY to increase the production capacity of Kaneka Biodegradable Polymer PHBHTM from 1,000 ton/year to 5,000 ton/year. Additionally, Kaneka will start a feasibility study for operating as soon as possible a 20,000 ton/year capacity production plant. Through this investment, Kaneka will supply the global market with about 80,000 ton of PHBHTM through 2025 which can be used for industrial and consumer products. PHBHTM related applications can contribute to reducing marine pollution by being (1) fully recoverable into organic fertilizer products via organic recycling, and (2) biodegradable in marine environment in case of accidental losses.

Ocean Conservancy launched the Trash Free Seas Alliance® to bring diverse stakeholders together with a common goal of a 50% reduction of waste entering the ocean annually by 2025. Alliance members are addressing this problem collectively and within their institutions. The collective Alliance is committing to activities such as: Investing more than $100 million into research, incubation, and advancing marine debris prevention, response, and impact mitigation, Replacing or avoiding over 500,000 tons of virgin plastic annually used in products and packaging, Working in over 100 countries and 1,000 cities to advance marine debris and waste management solutions through policy, education, and collaborative initiatives, Engaging over 3 million people annually in direct action to combat marine debris and raising awareness of marine debris threats to over 1 billion people. Alliance members have also made public goals around animal entanglement; small scale pilot projects; supporting research; and improving product and operational efficiencies.

Sustainable Blue Economy

The European Union announced that, following the signing of the Belém Statement in July 2017 by the EU, South Africa and Brazil, it continues to work towards an All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance by fostering enhanced cooperation frameworks with Atlantic partners. As part of the overall annual EUR 250 million invested in marine and maritime research projects from the Horizon 2020 Programme, the EU has allocated EUR 64 million for projects which will start in 2019 and 2020. This funding will go towards assessing ecosystems, seafloor mapping and developing innovative ecosystem-based aquaculture systems with the aim of having by 2020 more than 1000 research teams working from Antarctica to the Arctic. Furthermore, EUR 18 million will be allocated to ocean observations and a pilot blue cloud in 2019.

The European Union announced that it will launch a EUR 18.4 million investment initiative in 2018 to promote a sustainable blue economy in the European Union. EUR 5 million of this amount is to be awarded to «Blue Labs» that are to research and develop products or services on innovative solutions in the maritime and marine field. A further EUR 6 million is to be awarded for the benefit of skill development in the blue economy. Finally, EUR 7.4 million is to be awarded to demonstration projects in the blue economy.

The European Union announced to have launched four regional projects worth EUR 8 million under its satellite monitoring programme (Copernicus) in Africa in February 2018. The projects, bringing together 18 African countries and the African Union with EU support, are to develop services related to fisheries and aquaculture, coastal vulnerability and risk management, coastal ecosystems monitoring, ship traffic monitoring and the development of regional ocean forecast centres in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The European Union announced that it will support the fisheries sector of the Seychelles to further develop in a sustainable manner. The contribution of EUR 1.8 million is to upgrade the value chain of the country’s fledgling fisheries and aquaculture sector, enhancing its competitiveness and bringing further quality jobs. The contribution is part of a wider EUR 10 million package that allows the Seychelles to reap the full potential of the current Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU, thus enhancing Seychelles’ competitive integration into the regional and international trading systems. The Seychelles is an important seafood processing hub for the EU as well as a longstanding partner under the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements that the EU has with a number of third countries

The European Union announced a joint action with China on marine data. The European Union will put forward EUR 3.5 million in support of this project.

Following successful initiatives to foster marine research cooperation in its surrounding sea basins, such as the Baltic (BONUS), and the Mediterranean (Bluemed), the European Union announced to launch specific Research and Innovation Agenda for the Black Sea sea basin.

Indonesia through Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries is commited to develop integrated rice-fish farming activities to increase sustainable fish production and local fish consumption. In 2018, the government allocates USD 550.000 and in conjunction with FAO support for about $50.000 through its developing project “Promote Scaling-up of Innovative Rice-Fish Farming and Climate Resilient Tilapia Pond Culture Practices for Blue-Growth in Asia”. In 2019, We pledge another USD 800.000 fund.
The project is located in several locations in Sumatera, Java, Sulawesi, Bali and Kalimantan, covered 560 hectares in 2018 and be extended up to 960 hectares by 2019. The target of fish production is 1,2 tonnes perhectare/cycle.

Indonesia through local government, the Sukoharjo Regency government is committed to the implementation of the rice-fish farming project to support sustainable blue economy by providing a total development area of 25 ha, consists of :18 ha of rice-fish farming funded by FAO and will be continue until 2019 with additional 7 ha farming area; FAO provides USD 26.768 in 2018; while Sukoharjo Regency will allocate USD 9.333 to support the joint project.

Indonesia through Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) commits to invest up to USD 250,000 and any necessary numbers needed to increase compliance with global food security and safety requirement. This program is to support the development of National Fish Traceability and Logistic System, called STELINA.

Indonesia commits USD 8,7 million in developing National Seaweed Industry includes; 1) seaweed processing units at 6 regencies, 2) warehouses rehabilitation at 3 regencies, 3) warehouse construction at 6 regencies. MMAF convenes monthly Marine and Fisheries Business and Investment Forum (MFBIF) to promote sustainable seaweeds and their products. Seaweed – related agencies and ministeries establish coordination forum to develop and implement seaweed roadmap. Continues efforts will strengthen production sustainability as well as to increase economic multiplier effects for the community. Indonesia seaweed industry ensure sustainability principles from upstream to downstream joining the global blue economy program.

Indonesia in collaboration with Government of Japan will allocate USD 8,2 million to plan and develop Integrated Marine and Fisheries Centers in 7 islands (Natuna, Morotai, Biak, Moa, Sabang, Saumlaki and Talaud). It will develop several infrastructures to support the center.

Indonesia committed to invest USD 250,000 to develop sustainable fisheries through traceability enforcement. We are now developing a National Traceability and Logistic System in selected areas. This will trace fisheries activies from point of catches to consumers to ensure that Indonesia only produce seafood from a responsible fisheries.

Indonesia committed to invest USD 3 million in three years in order to develop zero waste seafood processing industries to support Global Blue Economy. This program will promote the inclusion of small and medium entreprises in selected areas in Indonesia, to create more jobs, better livelihood, and better environment for the people.

Norway commits to being the Patron sponsor country for UN Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business in 2018 and in 2019. UN Global Compact will receive up to 2,4 Million NOK (approximately 300 000 USD) to conduct activities related to the initative per year.

The United States announced USD 720,000 from NOAA to support the third decadal “OceanObs” conference in Hawaii, September 16-20, 2019. This conference will highlight progress on ocean observations from space to the sea floor over the past decade and will chart innovative solutions to address societal needs for ocean information. It will be a foundation for integrating and innovating research, observations, modeling, and services in support of developing the UN Decade for Ocean Science.

The United States announced new support for the Argo program, a global array of profiling floats that is part of the international Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). In 2019, NOAA will fund the deployment and calibration of profiling floats equipped with biogeochemical sensors as part of the U.S. contribution to TPOS-2020. NOAA has been a central supporter of the Argo program, contributing approximately one-half of the global array since 2001.

The United States announced three research initiatives on coastal wetland ecosystems. The Smithsonian’s MarineGEO program is leading a new USD 1.2 million collaborative research project using innovative research techniques to understand and stop the spread of eelgrass disease along the west coast of North America. MarineGEO and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) have created a Collaborative Network for Coastal Wetland Carbon Cycle Synthesis to advance coastal wetland carbon science by making data on coastal wetland carbon stocks publicly available and by hosting workshops to synthesize data, numerical modeling, and expert opinion to improve estimates of coastal carbon fluxes. Marine GEO, SERC, and the Global Genome Initiative of the National Museum of Natural History are conducting a field campaign to build a biodiversity inventory of the Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic coastal region of the United States.

The United States announced a new five-year regional activity, USAID’s Central American Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project, to conserve biodiversity in targeted coastal-marine areas and associated upland ecosystems by enhancing resilient biodiversity-dependent economic opportunities, sustainable use of natural resources, governance of natural resources, and evidence-based monitoring. The activity focuses on the coastal ecosystems of the Rio Paz (El Salvador and Guatemala), Rio Motagua (Guatemala and Honduras), and the Honduran Miskito Coast. Anticipated level of funding, subject to availability of funds, is USD 10-14 million over five years, 2017-2022.

The United States The United States announced a three-year collaboration between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support regional governments, local institutions, and on-the-ground projects to reduce threats to biodiversity in the Caribbean. Through this partnership, small grants are provided to local environmental organizations for marine and coastal biodiversity conservation, combating illegal trade of wildlife, and building the capacity of local conservation leaders. Anticipated funding level, subject to the availability of funds, is USD 2.5 million over 3 years, 2017-2020.

Chile is committed to advancing towards a circular economy, promoting a cultural change in sustainable waste management, which moves from a view of the disposable to the reusable. The country commits to work intensely on the implementation of the Law on Extended Producer Responsibility (REP) and Promotion of Recycling, which obliges producers or importers of certain priority products to take charge of them when its become waste, promoting their reuse, recycling and energy recovery. Chile will also establish associated measures, such as selective collection, should be established in order to reduce negative externalities and improve waste management and the promotion of recycling.

Ireland announced the development of a National Marine Planning Framework which will cover Ireland’s maritime area, including internal waters (sea area), territorial seas, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, by 2021 .Ireland’s National Marine Planning Framework will try to balance the different demands for using the sea including the need to protect the marine environment.

Mauritius will carry out a resource survey in its EEZ to identify new species, determine their stock potential and their spatial distribution in its waters. They will deploy a research vessel with appropriate gears and equipment in the different parts of its waters. The project is expected to start in 2018 and end by 2020. The project is estimated to cost about USD 116,000.

Portugal commits to raise the awareness on the sustainable use of our ocean through the Blue School Programme by 2030.

Portugal commits to develop and implement a certification system fo rlocal fisheries that comply with dolphin-friendly practices (harbour purpoise) till 2020.

Portugal commits to continue raising awareness of sustainable fish consumption till 2030.

Portugal commits to increase knowledge on the value of marine natural capital and ecosystem services to support decision-making processes

Portugal commits to dedicate USD 227,000 per year to create a web platform to connect people and institutions in specific fields of knowledge in order to share views, work in progress publications information about financing and build projects proposals togeher. The platform will be used to promote the transfer of scientific knowledge and technology to SIDS and LDC in the context of CPLP.

Portugal commits to allocate USD 570,000 until the end of 2021 to support the preparation and starting phase of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Japan allocated USD 22.26 million (JPY 2.5 billion) to build facilities in fishery ports and fish markets in outer islands in Indonesia. The project is to implement the Programme for the Development of Fisheries Sector in Outer Islands with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia.

NYK Line commits on supporting the NYK-TDG Maritime Academy (NTMA), which is officially approved by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in Philippine. NYWK will provide high quality education and financial support: about USD 1.34 million(about JPY150 million) in FY2018 to cadets with the aim of the becoming ship officers.

The Nature Conservation will deploy Blue Bonds in approximately 20 islands and coastal countries in the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands and the West Indian Ocean during 2018-2028. They will work with each country to use private impact capital to purchase and restructure debt, setting aside a portion of the proceeds to finance ocean protection and build climate resilience.The project will mobilize at least USD 120M over those 10 years.

World Bank commits more than USD 1 billion to advance the sustainable oceans and Blue Economy agenda in developing countries. The programs include co-financing with Global Environment Facility in strengthening resilience of targeted communities & areas in coastal West Africa, improving fisheries transparency in Kiribati & Sierra Leone, restoring agricultural livelihoods and enhancing climate resilience of farmers and fisher-folk affected by Hurricane Maria in Dominica, combatting pollution and managing watershed in China, improving competitiveness of agriculture and fisheries in Montenegro, promoting sustainable development and blue growth in Grenada, enhancing productivity and climate resilience of irrigated agriculture in India, managing aquaculture and coastal marine fisheries in Bangladesh and enhancing solid waste management services in Indonesia. These projects will be completed in 2025.

The European Investment Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and the Agence Française de Developpement has announced the Clean Oceans Initiative to support the development and implementation of sustainable projects that will reduce pollution in the world’s oceans over the next five years. This partnership will provide EUR 2-billion long-term financing for projects aiming at reducing marine litter, especially plastics, as well as untreated wastewater discharge, with a view to crowding-in private sector investment. The Clean Oceans Initiative will also provide innovative financing structures catering for the needs of private enterprises of varying size, including micro-enterprises, and for research and innovation projects.

The Seafood Legacy AEON commits to set a «2020 Sustainable Procurement Goals» for major commodities and for the seafood products, aiming for 100% acquisition of MSC/ASC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification by Aeon’s consolidated subsidiaries operating general merchandise stores or supermarkets. Providing sustainability-proven private brand products in all major fish, AEON affirms its commitment by publishing a “Sustainable Eel Products Purchasing Policy” in addition to the existing “2020 Sustainable Procurement Goals”. AOEN will only purchase Japanese eel and Indonesian bicolor eel by 2018, develop develop transparent traceability system to prevent IUU eel products by 2023, and Support and participate in comprehensive Fishery Improvement Project in Indonesia to meet MSC standard by 2023.

The Ocean Policy Research Institute of Sasakawa Peace Foundation is committed to conduct research programme of USD 25 million from 2018 to 2020, covering themes such as Sustainable Fisheries Management, Ocean and Climate, Sustainable Blue Economy and Maritime Security. Special focus will be put on Sustainable Blue Economy to analyze ten different sites from Japan and the South Pacific region to generate concrete blue economy models with an aim to increase benefits of local communities through sustainable use of marine and ocean resources.

The Ocean Policy Research Institute of Sasakawa Peace Foundation is working jointly with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to analyze and draw lessons and best practices of their overall ocean-related portfolios. One of the notable ocean related activities of JICA in the next three years is a 2.5 billion Japanese yen grant aid (maximum limit) Programme for the Development for Fisheries Sector in Outer Islands in Indonesia.

Second Muse commits to allocate USD 282,800 to establish the Seafood Innovation Project (SIP), a community-sourced accelerator program that focuses on supporting innovations that will lead to a more sustainable seafood sector in Indonesia. The program’s target is to accelerate 50 innovators in the fisheries sector that have the potential to significantly support sustainable fisheris in Indonesia, and this project will be completed in 2020.

Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) UK commits to develop and apply innovative marine science to help towards ensuring a sustainable future for our oceans, which includes investing in and developing next generation scientists. To this end PML will invest USD 513,000 in Postdoctoral Fellowships focusing on applied marine science. This follows the recent investment of USD 6,4 million by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and USD 513,0000 by PML, in cutting-edge research facilities at PML, enabling a step-change in the UK capability for delivering interdisciplinary marine research, including rapid response to emerging issues, for the benefit of society.

Wageningen University & Research announced to invest 1.5 million US dollar in 2019-2021 in the further exploring of sustainable, nutritional food production and food security from our oceans for the growing world population. This initiative will contribute to sea-plant production systems and seagriculture, embedded in a sustainable management of the oceans aimed at the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and ocean ecosystems. The Netherlands will be used as a living lab and demonstrator for projects worldwide, including e.g. Indonesia and the Caribbean.

Satlink, Bureo and World Animal Protection are collaborating as part of Satlink’s Zero Impact campaign commits to support the Zero Impact in 2018-2019 the goal of collecting and recycling 100 tons of end of life fishing nets by the end of 2019 through Bureo’s Net+Positiva program for sustainable end life of fishing gear in 4 artisanal fishing communities. This program would be scaled up to other communities, reduce risk of new ghost gear, and in the long run to support community generating funds from net recycling efforts.

Anova Food USA, the largest importer of frozen sashimi tuna in North America, commits to sourcing 100% of its tuna from traceable, sustainable sources by 2020. This represents 18,900 MT globally, including 6,600 MT from Indonesia. Sustainably sourced means either, in a credible Fishery Improvement Project or, certified against the Fair Trade and/or MSC standards. Anova will continue to support the implementation of full-chain traceability and efforts to combat IUU through its direct participation in the USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership and, in line with the Tuna 2020 Traceability Declaration. To achieve this goal, and with its commitment to Social Responsibility in Global Fisheries, Anova will support Indonesian small-scale tuna fisheries, working with over 3,000 small-scale handline fishermen in over 60 fishing communities in Indonesia, and will continue to commit $300,000 per year though direct or donor funding to programs and organizations involved in sustainable fisheries in Indonesia.

Tidal Bridge BV commits to invest $225 M in collaboration with the state owned contractor WIKA to realize a 900 meter long bridge with an integrated tidal power station to connect Flores and Adonara island to support economic development in the region. The project will be conducted from 2019-2021. The installed capacity of tidal power is 30MW with a yearly production of 80GWh therewith saving 47.500 MT CO2 per year.

PepsiCo provides USD 15MM in Circulate Capital to invest in waste infrastructure in South/Southeast Asia – the first major international corporation to make such a pledge and a global goal to strive to use 25% recycled content in all our plastic packaging by 2025

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. (SGS) and the Asian Seafood Improvement Collaborative (ASIC) commit to improve 20,000 shrimp aquaculture farms (households) in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, to achieve a level of environmental performance equivalent to a Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Green “Best Choice” by 2025. The collaborators will align environmental standards and support new improvement projects through financing, technical training, outreach and new tools for verification. In addition, the collaborators will engage governments, industry and stakeholders with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Monterey Bay Aquarium through the Southeast Asia Fisheries and Aquaculture Initiative to enhance new, comprehensive approaches for sustainable development. This initiative will significantly scale up improvements on small scale shrimp farms, accelerating the transition to sustainable production and potential market opportunities.

Rikolto announced that it will develop an innovative seaweed agribusiness based on inclusive business and improve the livelihood of seaweed activities with total value of USD 97.000. The output activities will consist of 1) creating derivation of seaweed product, the farmer will be no longer sell the raw seaweed material (Nusa Penida, Bali); from 0% of seaweed sold as raw, become 70% sold as processed products and 2) increasing the seaweed production (Sikka, NTT) through mechanization and establishing the seaweed inclusive market; from 0% of inclusive market, become 90% of inclusive market, from August 2018 to April 2019

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) commits to completing and re-opening other exhibits and facilities by summer 2019 destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, through $102 million in Federal and New York City grants. These interactive exhibits will attract one million visitors annually, and WCS will expand visitor engagement through digital platforms. Leveraging ocean plastics messaging within OWS!, WCS launched the “Give A Sip” campaign in May to ban single-use plastic straws in NYC through City Council legislation . To date, beyond phasing out plastic straws, cold-drink lids, and bags in our parks, we secured support for the ban from over 178 commercial partners and nearly 150,000 individuals and growing. This commitment will help bridge our work with 22 million people in the NY region to build support for a healthy NY marine environment.

The Swedish International Development Agency, UN Environment, and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) commit USD 6.5M to reducing marine litter from land-based sources in the East Asian Seas region, in line with the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter. This multi-stakeholder initiative will address management of the plastic value chain by identifying and scaling up market-based solutions and appropriate regulatory and fiscal incentives; strengthening the science basis for decision making; increasing public awareness and promoting consumer behavioural change; and facilitating regional networking, coordination and stakeholder engagement. The project will reduce the amount of plastic wasted, with reduced input to and impact on the marine environment as well as dependent people, directly delivering on Sustainable Development Goal 14 target 1 and Sustainable Development Goal 12 target 5. The project will run from 2018 to 2022.

World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, together with WRI Global will complete a detailed New Ocean Economy report for Indonesia by the end of 2020. It will comprehensively describe the significance of Indonesians seas and ecosystems in global world. The report will be back up with quantitative analyses on the net costs of inaction and the net benefits of action (i.e. cost benefit analysis) and examples from successful sustainable stewardship of the oceans at various levels of governance in Indonesia. The report will also identify gaps on investment needed to manage Indonesian seas sustainably and recommend a series of action to fill the gaps. The report helps raise awareness among the general public to put ocean sustainability at the forefront of maritime development.

Conservation International in a new partnership commits to advance the role of surfing in marine conservation, CI and the Save The Waves Coalition are committed to: 1. Strengthening the World Surfing Reserve program to create at least five new World Surfing Reserves that protect marine ecosystems in the World’s highest quality surf areas; 2. Developing Surf Protected Area Networks, as a new tool to conserve an estimated one million hectares of marine area globally, starting in Indonesia, and 3. Expanding use of Surfonomics, to determine the economic value of surfing waves in at least six countries to help decision-makers pursue conservation of their coasts and surfing ecosystems.

REV Ocean, Norway pledge USD 400-500 million to build the world’s largest and most advanced research and expedition vessel. The vessel will also be used for education, capacity building, ocean literacy and policy-making programmes, both through the science programme and selected expeditions and symposiums organized on the boat.

Climate Change

The European Union announced to commit EUR 5 million to start designing new ocean forecasting models at the end of 2018. These models, based on big data computing, will be important for the further evolution of the marine services currently provided by the EU’s satellite monitoring programme (Copernicus). Better forecasting means that the service can look a century ahead and can better aid decision making to tackle climate change impacts as well as build resilience to climate risks in the world, such as storm surges, coastal erosion and floods.

Indonesia commits in rehabilitating 1,814,352 hectares damaged mangrove ecosystem in Indonesia. The national commitment is projected accomplished within 5 years, from 2019 – 2023, by embracing all related stakeholders including central ministries/institutions, local government, NGOs, and private sectors.

Indonesia announced USD 2,3 million for coastline rehabilitation by building hybrid structure in 7 regencies in 2019. The hybrid structure will use bamboo or other local materials and function as sediment trap. This effort aims to restore the quality and function of the coastal environment and to improve the resilience of coastal area from impact of climate change. The activity will conduct by Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in collaboration with Provincial Government, Distric Government and local community.

In 2018, Indonesia through the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education allocated US 5.2 million to facilitate research funding for 956 researchers from 267 institutions of higher education. In 2019, the scope of research will also cover the area of food security and new and renewable energy and the budget allocation of research funding increase to USD 20 million, including research for maritime and disaster.

Indonesia in collaboration with Grid-Arendal commits to allocate USD 500.000 to USD 1.0 million in 2019 under Blue Forest Project. The project will highlight the effort to demonstrate methodologies and approaches for carbon accounting and ecosystem services valuation in coastal and marine ecosystems . Improving the understanding of ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, storage, avoided emissions and management in mangroves and seagrass ecosystems at six project sites covering maximum of 100,000 ha; and improving capacity and ecosystem management as a result of the application of methodologies and approaches to the sites project area.

Indonesia through Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics National Agency (BMKG) announced its commitment to conducting a projects «Enhancement of Ocean Forecasting System to Support Maritime Disaster Risk Reduction” in 2019-2020 with 55,000 USD from national budget and competitive funs. The project will conduct an operational oceanography for the most ASEAN countries. The realistic output and comprehensive analysis of the ocean dynamics system would enhance mitigation effort due to those extreme events and prevent higher risk/loss of life, ecosystem, and property. The output of the system may benefit coastal livelihood (i.e. traditional fishermen), shipping safety, oil spills/pollutant dispersion/ marine debris, and ecosystem conservation. The main outcome of this project will provide better accuracy of ocean forecast system (OFS) at BMKG to be able to prepare a system that can be used to support marine disaster risk reduction. This effort is an important element in mitigation of marine activity.

The United States announced USD 5 million for ocean observing technology to support the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) 2020 Project, an international effort to improve our understanding of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the ocean’s role in weather and climate. The TPOS-2020 Project is part of the international Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and a regional pilot for the World Meteorological Organization.

The United States announced that, for 2018, it has allocated USD 839,000 through the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Peaceful Uses Initiative to the Ocean Acidification International Coordination Center (OA-ICC) located at the Environment Laboratories in Monaco. Since 2010, the United States has allocated a total of more than USD 3.2 million to the OA-ICC.

The United States announced the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) program, a joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration-National Science Foundation effort to advance predictive understanding of the flow of organic carbon from the well-lit, upper ocean and its fate in the underlying “twilight zone” below 200 meters depth. EXPORTS will provide fundamental information for managers and policy-makers linking carbon cycling, the state of global ecosystems, and climate variability to support a sustainable ocean economy. EXPORTS completed the first phase of field work in the Northeast Pacific in 2018. Additional field work and a data synthesis and modelling phase are planned for coming years.

Germany through the German International Climate Initiative the „Fishing for Resilience project” started recently and will focus on empowering vulnerable, fisheries dependent communities across Indonesia, the Philippines and Micronesia. Germany intends to support the project with up to USD 6.3 Million.

Ireland commits USD 11.5 million to the establishment of a network of Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) over the period 2018-2023. The offices will support local government in addressing shared climate change risks, including marine and coastal issues such as coastal flooding and sea level rise.

Ireland committed USD 1.15 million over a five-year period (2019-2024) towards a new programme of Ocean & Climate research in an Irish Higher Education Institution. This investment will target capacity building, novel research and delivery of societally-relevant knowledge outcomes aimed at better understanding the complex interactions between the ocean and climate change. This research will contribute to international climate policy, supporting enhanced forecasting capabilities and contributing to adaptation and mitigation strategies and actions.

Ireland pledged to contribute USD 57,000 to three United Nations Law of the Sea related Trust Funds in 2018. The contribution will go to the United Nations trust fund created to assist developing states engage with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, to the trust fund to assist developing states to participate in the work of the UN Regular Process for global reporting and assessment of the marine environment and to the fund to assist developing states to participate in the work of the UN Intergovernmental Conference on a new legal instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Ireland committed to the design and procurement of a new 50m modern research vessel at a projected cost of USD 28.5 million that will provide critical national infrastructure to enable Ireland to address the considerable challenges of the Common Fisheries Policy as well as climate induced impacts on our oceans. The vessel will be used to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, and seabed mapping and surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The United Kingdom announced that the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) will invest USD 28 million in a new 5 year project to investigate the impacts of climate change and human activity in the Atlantic Ocean from surface to seabed.

Mauritius commits to increase the number to 25 nurseries around Mauritius for the major rehabilitation of the corals in the coming two years. It will cost about USD 87,000.

Mauritius will carry out a study on sea grass in its waters to assess the climate change mitigating potential of sea grass ecosystems and evolve management measures to achieve their long-term sustainability. At least 10 monitoring sites for sea grass will set up.The project will be conducted over a period of four years and as from 2019 and will cost about USD 144,000.

Peru has made a USD 91 million of investment to acquire the B.A.P. CARRASCO, a polar oceanographic vessel, with the objective of improving oceanographic scientific research operations in Peruvian jurisdictional waters, as well as in Antarctica. B.A.P. Carrasco also has a hydrographic survey laboratory, a marine geology laboratory, an oceanography laboratory, a chemical laboratory for the study of samples, a wet and dry laboratory, an oceanography and marine geology laboratory.

The International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) recognizes that climate change poses an overarching threat on top of the multiple other stressors on coral reefs. Since July 2018, and until mid-2020, the Initiative is jointly co-chaired by Monaco, Australia and Indonesia. The next ICRI plan of action 2018-2020 will continue several actions developed by France, the previous chair. Other planned actions will be the production of the “status and trends of the world coral reef” (in 2020) and organization of the 6th International Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management Symposium (in Indonesia in 2020), which contributing to the integration of coral reefs in the post 2020 global biodiversity framework.

Coral Vita commits to providing over USD 1.5 million in private capital towards reef restoration over the next 2 years. The developing revenue streams from eco-tourism and reef restoration that will allow us to outplant over 5,000 resilient corals will finished by 2020 and outplanting over 5,000 resilient corals by 2020. It also expanding the scale of land-based coral farming to create a commercial facility capable of farming over 100,000 corals by 2021.

Ocean Unite commits to creates The Caribean Climate-Smart Accelerator as an unprecedented coalition including 26 countries and over 40 private and public sector partners which will implement climate solutions for resilience, renewable energy, development of sustainable cities, oceans and transportation. This climate-smart zone will not only protect the region but create jobs and a new economy in climate-smart infrastructure.

WRI Indonesia commits to develop inclusive mangrove restoration planning handbook to also support the Indonesian Blue Carbon Strategy Framework, which will be partially based on WRI and IUCN’s Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM). By the end of 2020, WRI Indonesia together with partners aims to test, publish and the protocol/handbook in three pilot areas adding up to 8,000 ha, to then disseminate the handbook to mangrove restoration practitioners. By 2022, we hope that 3 other institutions or communities will have adopted the methodology to conduct mangrove restoration planning.

The World Surf League (WSL) and its nonprofit WSL PURE announces its commitment for ocean health to reduce and neutralize the annual carbon footprint of our operations through verified carbon offsets as of the 2019 competitive season. This commitment includes emissions from Scopes 1, 2, and 3, notably the air travel by competition surfers from around the globe, staff for the World Championship Tour, the Big Wave tour, as well as the footprints of the Kelly Slater Wave Company’s wave systems, and our offices across all of our geographies. In so doing, the World Surf League will offset the equivalent of nearly 10,000 mtCO2e annually.

Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), a leading international ship classification society headquartered in Japan with comprehensive global network, announced to accomplish Research and Development according to their R&D Roadmap 2017 over the next five years with approximate EUR 29 million (USD 34 million) expenditure plan.The Research and Development includes researches on GHG emission from ships as the priority subjects, which will result innovations of GHG emission reduction technologies such as practical realization of the alternative / renewable fuels for ships, realization of «zero-emission ships» and so on.

Over the next three years, The Ocean Foundation will spend approximately USD 1.5 million to build resilience to ocean acidification in the seafood sector by revolutionizing the technology to protect shellfish and other aquaculture farms. The project will reduce the cost of shellfish hatchery adaptation by matching the technical specifications with management and species needs; and at the same time develop a suite of low-cost “kits” for use in the seafood sector to enable resilience in the face of ocean acidification with a goal of 25% of previous cost. It will create financial and supply chain incentives and blockchain traceability based on a quantification of the market value of existing ocean acidification risk mitigation strategies to ensure the technology is adopted and there is an increase in adaptation.

Over the next year, The Ocean Foundationwill launch the “Blue Resilience Initiative” to Strengthen Natural Security in Coastal Communities in up to 5 developing nations. USD 1.5 million initiative will promote natural infrastructure to bolster community resilience, educate the public, support research, finance natural infrastructure restoration, provide organizational support and technical assistance through our Accelerator Program, and cultivate a community of leaders through our Policy Hub.

The OA Alliance members are working to increase OA membership to 100 members by 2019, which will elevate the issue of ocean acidification within international climate frameworks. We will develop 20 action plans by 2019. The Ocean Acidification Action Plans contains practical, meaningful, and implementable steps to mitigate causes, to adapt to unavoidable change, and to build resiliency in marine ecosystems and the coastal communities impacted by changing ocean conditions.

Plymouth Marine Laboratory UK commits USD 115,000 of funding by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to establish the North East Atlantic Ocean Acidification Hub to link European countries that are conducting monitoring, and other ocean acidification activities, within the NE Atlantic region by November 2019.The hub will provide a platform for research of the scientific community, particularly those involved in monitoring and researching ocean acidification and especially in the UK and European region.

Plymouth Marine Laboratory UK commits USD 385000 through the UK Natural Environment Research Council and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research Funding to investigate the impact of three important stressors – ocean acidification, warming waters, and elevated irradiation – on the cycling of key trace gases (N2O, CH4, CO, DMS) in the Arctic Ocean which play a large part in controlling our climate. This commitment is expected to be completed in July 2021.

As part of AXA Group’s biodiversity strategy, AXA XL commits to spend between USD1.0 million and USD1.2 million in 2019 on its Ocean Risk Initiative, that helps to highlight the implications of ocean derived risk and to develop cross-sectoral solutions. In 2019 the Initiative will deliver the outcomes of the first Ocean Risk Summit which includes: the creation of a high-level multi-sectoral alliance to develop scalable solutions to reduce ocean risk and build resilience in the communities that need it most; funding a program of research with the Stimson Center focused on vulnerabilities of developing coastal nations to ocean derived risks; continuing to develop Blue Carbon Resilience Credits with The Nature Conservancy and developing the framework of an Ocean Risk Index. AXA XL will also continue to focus on increasing ocean literacy through its Oceans Education and Ocean Risk Scholarships programs.

Mike Bloomberg and Ray Dalio commit their organizations — Bloomberg Philanthropies and OceanX —to a give a combined USD 186 million of funding to explore and protect the oceans over the next four years.The Bloomberg-OceanX initiative will invest both independently and together on projects across ocean exploration and scientific discovery, awareness and education, issue advocacy, policy, and conservation.

Over the next four years, Wildlife Conservation Society will invest USD 23 million to reduce threats to climate-resilient coral reef ecosystems, and strengthen the governance, monitoring and policies needed for long-term, lasting protection of coral reefs on a global scale.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Vulcan Inc. commit to investing each USD 250 000 in a Global Fund for Coral Reefs focusing on coral reef conservation, restoration and adaptation to climate change.

Saline Farming Group in collaboration with government and local companies in Bangladesh (ICCO), Pakistan (Jaffer and Meta Meta), Kenya (Acacia Water), Morocco , Cypress, Jordan, Vietnam and India, commit to invest USD 3,2 million to help local farmers to start growing salt tolerant crops on their saline farm land. Projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Cypress expected to be completed in 2020/2021. Projects in Jordan, Morocco, Vietnam and India expected to be launched in 2019.

JAMSTEC provides USD 6.3 million (about JPY 630 million) to the “Construction of the Integrated Ocean Observation Network” project in 2017-18. This project is in response to the need of global scale on the oceanic observation data. It will contribute to provide data that can be used to find solution on ocean environment aggravation including the biodiversity loss and marine pollution through the construction of integrated ocean observation network. This project will be completed in 2018.

JAMSTEC gained USD 0.3 million (about JPY 30 million) competitive funds to the projects “Establishment of an Early-warning System for Infectious Diseases in Southern Africa Incorporating Climate Predictions” in 2017-18. This project will be completed in 2018.

JAMSTEC budgeted USD 2 million (about JPY 200 million) to the “Years of the Maritime Continent (YMC)” project in FY 2017-19. It aims to expedite the progress of improving understanding and prediction of local multi-scale variability of the the Maritime Continent (MC) weather-climate systems and its global impact through observations and modeling exercise. This project will be completed in July 2019.

The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral reef Fisheries and Food security (CTI CFF) comprising six (6) countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste announces its commitment of 1.3 million usd next year for work on preserving, managing and ensuring healthy marine and coastal ecosystem, in the face of climate change. This is a continued commitment since last past three years for more than USD 2 million. This will be accomplished by implementing and strengthening networks of marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries in addressing climate change. CTI CFF will continue the implementation of the Guide for Vulnerability Assessment and Local Early Action Planning (LEAP Guide) and the CTI-FF Region-wide Early Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation (REAP-CCA).