The ASEM High-level Meeting on Marine Sustainability was held on 7-8 March, in Bangkok, Thailand by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.

Background
Oceans and seas are essential components of the global biosphere. When maintained and protected, aquatic resources can contribute to sustainable and inclusive global development. However, challenges remained in the area of marine and maritime governance. The fundamental one is how to maintain and protect aquatic resources and to achieve sustainable use of the oceans to ensure that marine resources are available for future generations, while meeting the demands of human population growth and sustainable economic growth.

The meeting is a follow -up of the ASEM Symposium on “Inter-Regional Partnership for Sustainable Development” & ASEM Meeting on “Sustainable Marine Environment: Marine Debris” held in Thailand in May 2017 and August 2018 respectively. The meeting is also organised as part of a series of international meetings hosted by Thailand on marine sustainability, which includes the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris on 5 March and the 9th Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific on 4-6 March.

Objective
The meeting aimed to bring together representatives from international and regional organisations, governments, civil society organisations, media, academia, industries as well as other stakeholders to gather inputs and discuss the way forward for ASEM to address the issues of marine sustainability and the practical implementation of United Nation’s Sustainable Developement Goal 14: life below water. The action-oriented discussion pertaining to a marine sustainability strategy was going to be people-centric and environment-centric.

For detailed event information, please download the report & summary under “Documents” and check out presentations, event photos & press releases under the “Useful Links”.