Race to restore: Building Asia-Pacific’s sustainable ocean economy
‘UNPRECEDENTED” might be judged the most used adjective of 2020, and too often for dire reasons. Yet the end of last year brought one more occasion to use the word, when the leaders of 14 countries put forward a new ocean action agenda underpinned by sustainably managing 100 per cent of national waters. Asia-Pacific nations were well represented on the high level panel, by leaders of Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan and Palau.
This signals new or strengthened national policies that balance sustainable use of the ocean with the protection and restoration of the marine and coastal ecosystems so critical to our region for jobs, economic wellbeing, food and coastal protection. If fully implemented, December’s pledge could kick-start an unprecedented shift toward ocean management, which is so vital to consolidate a sustainable and prosperous future for generations of people and marine ecosystems.
There are five important measures that governments can do to achieve this.
First, stop enabling overfishing. Overfishing remains one of the greatest threats to ocean health. It is fuelled by policy that enables overcapacity and overfishing combined with subsidies that distort the market. The consequences are clearly outlined in every report on declining fish stocks, and the World Bank has assessed that sustainable fisheries management generates more valuable catches with lower levels of fishing effort. But entrenched interests make it difficult for any nation to be the first to right-size its fleet.
Governments should set the course and support ecosystem-based fisheries management. It is an important solution that supports nutrition and health needs. In 2005, Australia has set a good example how to get there with a structural reform of its fisheries sectors. The “securing a
sustainable fishing future” package put commonwealth managed fisheries on a path to economic and environmental sustainability with social safeguards to allow a reduction in fishing capacity without setting workers adrift.
There’s a real possibility to seize a competitive advantage by rechanneling harmful subsidies, such as fuel subsidies, into low-footprint aquaculture, especially plant-based.
Second, account for ocean assets. The total value of the ocean is estimated at $24 trillion, yet it suffers from severe underinvestment. In the last 10 years, only $13 billion has been invested in sustainable projects through philanthropy and official development assistance, and even less by the corporate sector.
The goods and services the ocean provides our region are massively undervalued. For example, the significant benefits of coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs, coastal wetlands and mangrove forests that act as “natural buffers” to storms are rarely quantified and accounted for in coastal protection, which means hazard mitigation and budgetary decisions are being made without fully recognising their value.
We recommend creation of national ocean accounts to properly inform policymaking
and resource management decisions. These ocean accounts should include not only what the ocean produces (like GDP), but also ocean income to account for benefits to people, and changes in ocean wealth, including ecosystems like coral reefs or fish populations, so to monitor sustainability.
Third, integrate policy frameworks. Policymakers must reject fragmented sectorbased – and territorial – approaches that have failed and instead move towards fitfor-purpose governance, including policy and legislation. There are a few examples of large-scale integrated ocean management that work, such as the framework for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
However, there are promising frameworks under development, such as Indonesia’s first national strategy on circular economy, which will provide a framework for sustainable management of natural resources and waste and addressing climate change, while boosting economic growth and job creation.
There is also the growing recognition of the importance of local-level integrated policy frameworks being implemented across the region, such as in Fiji through CommunityBased Integrated Land-Sea Management in Kubulau District,
and in Japan’s Hinase area of Bizen City.
Integrated policy frameworks can extend to developing strategic plans to guide economic growth in an environmentally sound way and provide regulatory environments that build investor confidence and reduce delays to sustainable ocean projects. Key to the effectiveness and sustainability of all these measures is that the policy development process is genuinely participatory and inclusive of communities, indigenous peoples, private sector and different parts of government, and based on science.
Fourth, use the full suite of policy instruments. In addition to necessary bans, rules and environmental standards, nations can employ market-based policy instruments. For example, mangrove forests are a natural solution for both mitigating climate change, due to their ability to sequester carbon, and adapting to its impacts on the coast, providing flood mitigation benefits worth billions at a global scale.
This sequestration potential for mangroves is particularly high in Indonesia, and Indonesia, Australia, Korea, Fiji and Papua New Guinea are all part of the International Partnership for Blue Carbon that seeks to promote and preserve the climate benefits of blue carbon ecosystems, including advice on how countries may include blue carbon in their Nationally Determined Contribution. Private sector incentives, such as blue bonds or reduced insurance premiums for investments in naturebased solutions like coral reef protection and restoration, are also promising.
To tackle the massive plastics crisis, and insidious nutrient pollution expanding ocean “dead zones” starved of oxygen and life, we need to discourage wasteful and polluting business models and behaviours by making them pay their fair share and instead incentivise green businesses. Countries such as India and Singapore are implementing market-based policy instruments to move towards a more circular economy where waste is ‘designed out’ and products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible.
Alappuzha, a coastal city in Kerala state, India, was once called “Venice of the East” until rubbish clogged its canals and drains. In 2014, the city addressed its growing waste problem by implementing a decentralised solid waste management system that includes educational subsidies for students to collect plastic waste and a penalty for illegal dumping of plastics.
Singapore has a “toward zero waste” commitment and will introduce policies to encourage sustainable production and consumption, with new initiatives including Extended Producer Responsibility, starting with electronic-waste in 2021.
Fifth, become an ocean-first region. Our planet’s one ocean connects us all. Inadequate policy and insufficient efforts to safeguard the ocean’s natural capital that underpins our region’s economy and wellbeing and delivers trillions of dollars to the global economy have fallen short.
Ingrid van Wees is Asia Development Bank vice-president for finance and risk management in Manila, the Philippines. John Tanzer is World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Global Oceans leader in Brisbane, Australia.
BY DAY, Le Yen Quyen works as a pharmacist at her local health clinic in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. At night, she dances under the head of a lion on perilously high metal poles, practising her moves ahead of Lunar New Year festivities.
Quyen, 27, was one of the first women to join the Tu Anh Duong lion and dragon dance troupe, where performers mimic the movements of the creatures to bring good luck and dispel evil spirits.
Evening after evening in the southern city of Can Tho, she perfects the stunts she will show off during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday which begins this week.
Her baby daughter, who accompanies her to every session, looks on from the sidelines.
Quyen, whose husband is also a dancer in the troupe, said: “To get good at lion dancing you have to be patient . . . take risks.
“It was very difficult at the beginning. I injured my hands and feet.”
Central to the routine are 21 metal plinths, some standing at more than 2m, which dancers must jump between to symbolise the challenging stages in life that must be overcome.
Towering over them all is a 7m pole – the ultimate spot to showcase the complex twists and turns of the lion dance.
Trailblazing
As a Taekwondo black belt, Quyen already had the agility and power to excel at the dance, which has been performed for centuries – largely by men – in Vietnam and other parts of Asia.
But to join, she had to overcome resistance from the local community, who said it was too challenging for a woman.
It was her talent that eventually convinced them, said Quyen, who has won dozens of gold medals at local and national lion and dragon dance competitions.
“I am proud to be the person who has inspired other girls,” Quyen said, explaining that there are now 20
women in the troupe.
One of those is Luu Thi Kim Thuong, 17, who signed up with four of her friends, despite a fear of heights.
“When I trained at the beginning, I was scared . . . and I couldn’t climb to the very top.
But gradually, I climbed higher and higher day by day,” Thuong said.
“It took me three months to climb the high poles.”
Training for two to three hours after school each day, she said she has built great chemistry
with her fellow dancers.
That is crucial for such a demanding sport, she added.
“We have to communicate, to understand each other. If something is wrong, one of us has to say it out loud so we can fix it together.”AFP
KYLIAN Mbappe set Paris Saint-Germain on the way to a 2-0 win over troubled Marseille on Sunday, keeping the reigning champions within three points of Ligue 1 leaders Lille who earlier recorded their sixth consecutive victory.
Mbappe burst through at an incredible pace to give PSG the lead on the counter-attack in the ninth minute at the Stade Velodrome, with Mauro Icardi adding a second for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The victory was achieved despite Neymar – who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday – only appearing as a second-half substitute having missed training with a stomach bug.
PSG stay third in the Ligue 1 table, a point behind Lyon and three adrift of Lille who won 2-0 at Nantes earlier.
Marseille finished with 10 men after Dimitri Payet’s late sending-off, and are down in ninth having won just one of their last 11 games.
‘Le Classique’ is the biggest fixture in French football, and the build-up to what was the 100th meeting of Marseille and PSG had been dominated by events of the last week in the Mediterranean city.
Marseille’s home game last weekend against Rennes was postponed after several hundred supporters attacked the club’s training ground, and three days later Andre VillasBoas was suspended by the club – the first step in the legal process of sacking the Portuguese coach – after declaring at a press conference he wanted to resign.
Nasser Larguet, the head of Marseille’s youth academy, took charge for Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at Lens and was again on the bench for this match.
The last league meeting of the teams in September was won 1-0 by Marseille but was marred by five late red cards, including for Neymar. The Brazilian also later accused Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez of racism, although no action was taken due to a lack of evidence.
Stunning sprint
Ligue 1 top scorer Mbappe sprinted onto Angel di Maria’s pass to control and fire past Steve Mandanda for the opener, his 16th of the season. Broadcaster Canal Plus clocked Mbappe’s stunning sprint at 36 kilometres per hour.
Di Maria then hobbled off injured, before Icardi made it 2-0 midway through the first half.
The Argentine got in front of Alvaro to meet Alessandro Florenzi’s cross, the ball coming off the back of his neck and looping into the net.
Icardi was replaced by Neymar midway through the second half, with the Brazilian immediately becoming involved
in a flashpoint with Alvaro.
The Spaniard was lucky only to concede a corner rather than a penalty as he tried to stop the world’s most expensive player, but Alvaro did jar his knee in the process and came off soon after.
The home side then had Payet sent off for a high boot on Marco Verratti.
David double for Lille
Canada’s Jonathan David continued his recent scoring streak with a brace as Lille saw off Nantes to reclaim top spot from Lyon, who beat Strasbourg 3-0 on Saturday.
David netted before and after the break to take his tally to five goals in as many games and hand Lille
their sixth consecutive win.
He pounced on a defensive mix-up to put Lille in front early on and secured the points with a fantastic second seven minutes from time, playing a one-two with Renato Sanches before firing high into the net.
Nantes are in the bottom three having gone 15 matches without a win, including seven games under Raymond Domenech, the former France coach who was appointed in December.
Earlier Aleksandr Golovin scored a hat-trick on his first start since August after injury as Monaco defeated bottom club Nimes 4-3 to extend their winning run to seven matches. Golovin also set up Kevin Volland for Monaco’s fourth goal.