The 8th China-Southeast Asian Countries Marine Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Jakarta, Indonesia from November 28 to 29, 2024. During the forum, the Decade Collaborative Center on Ocean-Climate Nexus and Coordination Amongst Decade Implementing Partners in P.R. China （DCC-OCC） hosted a lunch dialogue themed "Promoting Regional Cooperation under the UN Ocean Decade framework". The dialogue aimed to deepen cooperation in marine and climate change fields among Southeast Asian countries under the UN Ocean Decade framework.
The dialogue was chaired by Professor Yu Weidong, Scientific Executive Director of DCC-OCC, and Associate Researcher Guan Song from the First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, introduced the overall implementation of the UN Ocean Decade, the core functions of DCC-OCC, and its priority actions in Southeast Asia. He also proposed suggestions for Southeast Asian countries to jointly design and implement Ocean Decade actions.
Experts from the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics （BMKG） introduced two Ocean Decade projects that the agency is leading. Nelly Florida Riama, Deputy Director of Geophysics at BMKG, introduced the "Fishermen Weather Field School" project, an educational program aimed at improving marine knowledge among fishing communities and its contributions to the Ocean Decade's goals of a safe, predictable, and inspiring ocean. The project plans to promote its successful experience globally. Sugeng Pribadi introduced the project "Tsunami Potential Study in Coastal Areas of Indonesia - Case Study of Anak Krakatau Volcano （2021-2024）", which aims to assess the risk of tsunamis triggered by the Anak Krakatau volcano through topographic and bathymetric surveys, tsunami evacuation map production, public awareness training, and technical training. The project also proposes recommendations to improve the disaster prevention capacity of coastal communities.
Wang Jing, Director of the Ocean Conservation Program at the Beijing Enterprise Environmental Fund, delivered a presentation titled "Socialized Philanthropic Platforms Promote Ocean Conservation Actions". She introduced the Foundation's Blue Partners project and its significant contributions to promoting the conservation of flagship marine species and key ecosystems, sustainable fisheries management, and public ocean science communication, in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the UN 2030 Agenda.
During the subsequent discussion, participants expressed keen interest in the participation of foundations and other stakeholders in the Ocean Decade and support for Ocean Decade actions. They actively discussed ways to promote Southeast Asian countries to design and implement more Ocean Decade actions through the important multilateral platform of DCC-OCC. In his summary of the dialogue, Professor Yu Weidong emphasized the importance of policy coordination and cooperative actions for achieving the goals of the Ocean Decade and called on all parties to strengthen cooperation and promote sustainable ocean governance in the Southeast Asia region.
The successful holding of this dialogue has enhanced the understanding and interest of Southeast Asian countries in the Ocean Decade, and has put forward suggestions for consolidating the strength of all parties and jointly designing and implementing more Ocean Decade actions, forming potential intentions and initial consensus.
