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environmental security and blue economy in the South China Sea

UN Environment South China Sea

By IW:LEARN

June 22^nd, 2018

The South China Sea is a strategic body of water surrounded by nations that are currently at the helm of industrialization and rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Bordered by the People’s Republic of China to the north, the Republic of the Philippines to the east; Malaysia, the Republic of Singapore, the Republic of Indonesia and the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam to the south, and the Kingdoms of Thailand and Cambodia, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the west, the South China Sea has always been central to issues of economic and political stability in Southeast Asia and adjacent regions. The South China Sea is also a global center of shallow water tropical marine biodiversity and is central to defining environmental sustainability and food security in the region.

Coastal communities of the South China Sea’s riparian states are, however, at the highest risk globally from the impacts of increasing rates of coastal and marine environmental degradation. Each decade, 30% of seagrass, 16% of mangrove, and 16% of live coral cover is lost from this basin due to pressures associated with unsustainable patterns of use by more than 300 million people that reside on the SCS’s coast. Global demand for the region’s seafood and tourism products exacerbate environment stress considerably. The Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the South China Sea, endorsed at the inter-governmental level, represents the only agreed common vision among the participating countries on targets and actions for reversing environmental degradation trends in the South China Sea. The implementation of this common vision was funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is being implemented by United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) in order to reduce the decadal rates of loss of coastal habitats from the SCS and ensuring environmental security and providing the coastal communities of the region with livelihood opportunities from its fishing and tourism sector.

To acknowledge the significant commitment of riparian states of the South China Sea over the past 20 years in partnering with the GEF and UN Environment, a 4-part short film series entitled ‘Stories from the South China Sea’ was launched in the lead up to the 7th GEF Assembly. The film series kicks off with an overview of the global significance of the South China Sea, showcasing the recent confirmation of high-level political commitment evidenced by the multilateral signing of a special Memorandum of Agreement in which the riparian States commit to cooperate in SAP implementation and efforts to strengthen regional cooperation for coastal and marine management.

Subsequent installments present success stories of efforts to strengthen the resilience of coastal fisheries to high and increasing levels of fishing effort, strengthening the science of planning national investments to tackle land-based pollution, and efforts of SAP implementation to ensure gender equality in initiative planning, operation and evaluation. The film topics were identified as areas of initiative -up success that have merit in broader replication and scaling -up in the South China Sea and other area where there is an urgent need to balance livelihoods and food security needs in the context of a high and increasing regional and global demand for coastal ecosystem goods and services. The film series can be accessed via the Facebook and website of the South China Sea Fisheries Refugia Initiative.