Report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme on the implementation of the NOWPAP in 2015-2016

Outline Programme implementation in 2015 and 2016 Status of implementation of resolutions of the 20th NOWPAP IGM Status of the NOWPAP Trust Fund and contributions by NOWPAP member states Proposed recommendations for member states

2. Programme implementation in 2015 and 2016 Progress made by the Regional Activity Centers Coordination of RAC activities NOWPAP Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI) Building partnerships: Work with CBD, GPA, IETC, NEASPEC, PICES, PEMSEA, WESTPAC; Serving as a non-country member to PEMSEA In early 2016, CEARAC was finalizing the activities approved for the 2014-2015 biennium by the 18th NOWPAP IGM: • Pilot assessment of the impacts of major threats to marine biodiversity in selected areas of the NOWPAP region. • Trial application of the screening procedure of the NOWPAP common procedure for eutrophication assessment. • Case studies of seagrass and seaweed mapping in selected sea areas in the NOWPAP region using remote sensing. Two new projects were started in 2016: Development of a draft common procedure for assessment of the impacts of major pressures on marine biodiversity in the NOWPAP region. Feasibility study towards assessment of seagrass distribution in the NOWPAP region. At the end of 2015, DINRAC has completed most of the activities approved by the 18th NOWPAP IGM for the 2014-2015 biennium: • Annual summary of major marine environmental data available in the NOWPAP region. • Annual updating of existing databases in order to share the latest data in the NOWPAP region. • Developing visualized DINRAC website and enriching the thematic maps in the web GIS system. • Collection of information on endangered/threatened species in the NOWPAP region. MERRAC has finalized the following activities approved by the 18th NOWPAP IGM (and modified later by the 17th MERRAC FPM):  Updating database on Oil and HNS spill response equipment and experts;  Risk assessment of oil spill incident: Likelihood analysis;  Pollution Reporting System. On 14 July 2016, full-scale NOWPAP DELTA exercise was successfully organized in Weihai, China, organized by China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) and co-organized by Korea Coast Guard (KCG). In 2015, most of POMRAC activities were “frozen” due to problems with processing payments to foreign experts from Russia. In 2015 POMRAC publsihed two reports: The Regional Overview on Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Issues of Ecological Concern in the NOWPAP Region and Regional overview on marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based management in the selected areas of the NOWPAP and Regional guidelines for integrated coastal planning and management in the northwest Pacific region. In May 2016, experts and partners discussed EQOs and indicators at the workshop in Vladivostok, Russia. NOWPAP RAP MALI held annual ICC campaign and workshops in China and Korea in 2015 and in Russia in 2016, NOWPAP node of GPML is maintained by CEARAC. ICC and workshops in 2015 were co-organized with marine litter focal points of TEEM (China, Korea, Japan). The latter is an example of effective collaboration between NOWPAP and important regional institution – TEEM. All NOWPAP RACs are involved in various activities under RAP MALI: assessment of microplastics (POMRAC), floating debris (MERRAC) and others. NOWPAP RCU continued its efforts on coordinating RAC activities through bilateral meetings with some RACs, meetings during RAC FPMs, using frequent communications, guidance and support was provided to RAC Focal Points Meetings (FPMs). Assistance was also provided to RACs in preparing and finalizing their expenditure reports and progress reports before submitting these to UNEP HQs. RCU facilitated frequent contributions to UNEP providing inputs on NOWPAP activities. Partners: Serving as a non-country member to the PEMSEA partnership council, NOWPAP has contributed to the implementation of its Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia. In 2016, NOWPAP has presented a proposal at the East Asian Seas Partnership Council meeting to have a joint PEMSEA-NOWPAP training course on integrated coastal management in 2017. In 2016 NOWPAP provided inputs to CBD SOI Meeting in Sept 2016 and participated in the 18th meeting of RSCAP in Incheon in October, 2016.

Programme implementation in 2015 and 2016 (cont.) Raising public awareness: Update website; Quarterly newsletter; continued supporting UNEP headquarters; brochures, leaflets, posters prepared and distributed NOWPAP activities introduced at the G7 Environment Ministers Meeting Worked with civil society Resource mobilization and financial support from members NOWPAP public awareness activities continued, quarterly, newsletters, NOWPAP activities were presented to G-7 Environmental Ministers Meeting held in Toyama in May, 2016. NOWPAP continued working with civil society, particularly on marine litters issues and joined Japan Environment Action Network (JEAN) at the Marine Litter Symposium held in January 2016 in Tokyo. Information about opportunities to obtain external funding from other sources has been also shared by the RCU with RACs. However, resource mobilization requires the participation of all stakeholders but unfortunately NOWPAP RACs have so far shown insufficient interest. In this context, resource mobilization was extremely challenging for the RCU during the period of its restructuring, with very limited human resources in both, Toyama and Busan offices.

Regional Coordinating Unit in Toyama and Busan offices is fully operational as of September 2016 Dr. Lev Neretin Senior Coordinator, Toyama Dr. Liu Ning Programme Officer, Busan Chika Kimura Programme Management Assistant, Toyama Jihee Yi Team Assistant, Busan Yuka Tatsunami, Office Assistant, Toyama

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTAITON OF RESOLUTIONS OF THE 20TH NOWPAP IGM Information is presented in Section 3 of the UNEP Report. Specific resolutions with delayed implementation are as follows: 2.2. Encourages NOWPAP member states to make their utmost efforts to increase their annual contributions to meet the target amount of US$ 500,000. 2.3. Encourages NOWPAP member states, NOWPAP RCU and NOWPAP RACs to continue seeking additional funding to support NOWPAP activities, particularly in line with NOWPAP MTS 2012-2017. 3.1. Decides that the Terms of Reference for the restructured NOWPAP RCU will be discussed at the next Intergovernmental Meeting and the issue of RCU performance indicators might be considered after that.

Status of NOWPAP Contributions China Russia

NOWPAP Trust Fund Expenditures in 2016-2017 ($US thousands) Activity Biennium 2016-2017 (A) 2016-2017 budget (B) Expenditure (as of 17 October 2016) Remaining balance (A)-(B) CEARAC 140 18 122 DINRAC 200 48 152 MERRAC 33 107 POMRAC 80 RAP MALI 70 Public Awareness 19 1 Coordination of RACs 16 6 10 Implementation of NOWPAP 83 23 60 Operation of RCU 78 4 74 Resource Mobilization 15 Sub-Total 841 133 708 13% of the sub-total as Pro- gramme Support Cost (PSC) 109 91 TOTAL 950 151 799

Status of NOWPAP Trust Funds Approved budget and expenditure for the past biennia (US$) Year Approved budget (incl. 13% PSC) Expenditure 2002-2003 1,100,000 553,902 (50.4%) 2004-2005 815,103 (74.1%) 2006-2007 1,179,000 900,911 (76.4%) 2008-2009 1,000,000 887,846 (88.8%) 2010-2011 770,000 710,810 (92.3%) 2012-2013 796,000 732,671 (92.0%) 2014-2015 900,000 594,518 (66.1%) 2016-2017 950,000 150,789* (15.9%)

Status of NOWPAP Trust Funds (cont.)

RECOMMENDATIONS Review, discuss and adopt the report of the Executive Director on the status of NOWPAP implementation. Review and adopt the report on the status of the NOWPAP Trust Fund. Discuss and agree on the increased contributions of member states to the NOWPAP Trust Fund (reaching 100%). Encourage NOWPAP RCU together with RACs and in consultation with NOWPAP member states to enhance efforts to secure additional funds from the external sources to supplement NOWPAP Trust Fund resources.