MEDIUM TERM LME COMMUNITY STRATEGY: FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSION Ivica Trumbić, GEF LME:LEARN

Why Strategy? A strategy is a way of describing what and how we are going to get things done TOGETHER A good strategy will take into account existing barriers and resources and will follow the overall vision, mission, and objectives of the initiative. What is the LME Community? Marine and coastal practitioners (LME, MPA, MSP, ICM, LMMA, corresponding Regional Seas, Regional Fisheries Bodies ), leaders, international and national organizations and institutions, NGOs, business community… A bottom up process with buy in from all stakeholders A key resource to engage other stakeholders

LME Community (medium term) strategy Globally, it is about the ocean governance, i.e. about managing and using the world's oceans and their resources in ways that keep our oceans healthy, productive, safe, secure and resilient (EU International Oceans Strategy) However, more precisely, it is about framing activities of the LME community in medium term within which LME projects will contribute to It is a strategic framework where LME projects/initiatives are nested and/or get the strategic “inspiration” It is about setting targets for our outcomes as a global community on which we can measure our progress It is about defining how we can create awareness about our impacts on ecosystems in the public space

Two levels of presentation: LME Community vs LME Consultation Meeting First level, the wider context: LME Community medium term strategic framework What is the objective of the discussion? To lay the grounds for the strategy To express views on the objectives and outcomes of a strategy To chart major strategic directions Second level, the LME Consultation meeting as a core mechanism to advance the medium term strategy To define strategic lines of work in the coming years, building on experience, what worked, what didn’t, etc Agree on organizational issues

Structure of the strategy Introduction Current situation Issues and problems Opportunities What does the LME Community need? Mission statement Vision: what do want to achieve in the medium term Goal of the strategy Timeframe Objectives Specific objectives and targets Operational objectives

Structure (continued) Major strategic directions Present new strategic directions that should be the basis of the strategy and will be detailed through the components of the strategy Components of the strategy Detailed presentation of the strategic components Description Activities Partners Tools for the strategy implementation Stakeholders/Partnerships Financing IW:LEARN Annual LME Consultation Meeting Action plan Monitoring the implementation of the strategy

Major strategic directions Evolution of the ocean governance framework Link with the UN SDG agenda and ABNJ negotiations: global vs regional approach Status of regional ocean governance and role of the LME Community Technical cooperation to advance EBM within and across regions Blue economy Thinking out of the box and articulating contribution of LME to Business Community Involvement of and partnerships with the private sector/business sector LME Investment Forum: how realistic it may be in the medium term Marine Spatial Planning: will the MSP be integrated in the LME initiatives or the MSP initiatives will complement the LME ones Rebranding of TDA/SAP approach in the framework of the Blue Economy LMEs and 2030 Agenda What elements of the LME initiatives/projects need to be linked to the 2030 Agenda and implementation of SDG14 Relevance of other SDGs for the LME Community and how it could be integrated Monitoring and reporting - possible common/harmonized formats across LME portfolio, building on Lisbon 2020 Ocean Conference opportunity

Strategic directions (continued) Sustainability What needs to be done to improve the LME initiatives’ sustainability particularly at the national level How long the dependence on GEF funds? Institutional, legal financial linkages and challenges Partnership with the business community Science in support of EBM UN Decade of Oceans Science Integrating emerging science issues in the LME Agenda Other scientific initiatives (e.g. GESAMP) Capacity development and cooperation Academic work with journals Possible future meetings (LME Summit, LME Conference with ICES and IOC maybe in 2022)

Next steps after brainstorming at LME21 Prepare the first draft of the strategy Circulate among the community members Prepare the second draft Adopt at one of the major events in 2020 where larger number of community members will be present

LME Consultation Meeting: The Mission To provide global forum for GEF-funded and other marine and coastal practitioners (LME, MPA, MSP, ICM, LMMA), leaders, international and national organizations and institutions Aimed at sharing experiences and lessons and forging alliances and collaboration for ecosystem-based ocean governance and management, in pursuance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the SDG14 Contributes to the development of LME-centred partnerships by engaging marine, coastal management, biodiversity and coastal climate change adaptation project leaders in meeting that objective

Long-term objectives Networking Sharing lessons learned Mobilizing knowledge resources Promoting regional ocean governance Each meeting had its specific objectives, outcomes and outputs

Evolution of Consultation Meetings (2014-2019) Structure: from lecture type to interactive type of event Contents: from almost exclusively technical to governance related subjects Duration: from 4 to 2-3 days (including technical site visit) Place and time: from Paris in July, to other locations towards the end of the year Participation: peak reached in 2017, but higher number when linked to other events Networking: from single group (LME oriented) to more diversified participation

Participation

Participation

Participation

Participation

Survey: General observations Most of the respondents attended the meeting, but most of them are relative late comers Most of the respondents are linked to implementing and executing agencies

Format of the meeting

Structure of the meeting

Thematic aspects of the meeting

Logistics

Other comments Show quantitative changes in states and conditions of LMEs in response to evidence-based governance interventions, including those made through GEF and institutions this has assisted Present the state of implementation of some LMEs to raise issues faced Meeting would benefit of a more open participation process. Ensuring implementers, governments, partners and stakeholders are able to attend and represent their projects and initiatives Meeting should also allow for specific time for sharing lessons learned and to find advice from more experienced LME on how to better address challenges Next LME consultation meeting (LME 22) should give a great importance on measuring the impact that the TDA-SAP-NAP approach had on the LME. After 20 years of GEF support on this topic it is time to find a way to "measure" and assess our action The meeting must have simultaneous translation into the languages of the member countries

Our proposal Paris, first half of July every year 3 days maximum, no field trip Continue reaching out outside of the „box“; expand the LME community by introducing other interest groups, in particular the private sector A combination of interactive sessions (lessons learned and implementation experiences), training (subjects to be surveyed before the meeting) and information on the latest scientific advances (mobilizing knowledge) Natural sciences, (marine) social sciences, SDG14 and other relevant SDGs implementation Integrate brief (half a day) regional network meeting

Thank you and let’s keep going!