Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) is an intergovernmental organization operating in East Asia to foster and sustain healthy and resilient oceans, coasts, communities and economies across the region. PEMSEA serves as the regional coordinating institution for the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) adopted by 14 countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam). For over 20 years, PEMSEA has made significant contributions and tangible benefits for coastal and ocean ecosystems and coastal communities in East Asia through partnerships and integrated solutions.

Recognizing the changing and emerging issues in ocean governance, countries of the region have adopted the SDS-SEA 2015 to contribute in meeting new global commitments on sustainable development, including the SDGs, particularly SDG14.

Building on practical experience gained in the application of integrated coastal management (ICM), PEMSEA has developed an ICM system that addresses complex coastal management concerns covering governance and various sustainable development aspects. In November 2015, PEMSEA country partners committed to scale up ICM to cover 25% of the region’s coastline. To date, PEMSEA has reached about 17% of the region’s coastline creating important impact to more than 31,000 km of coastline and over 146 million people living in coastal and watershed areas. As part of ICM implementation, PEMSEA and its partners, at the national and local government levels, are committed to improving coastal and ocean governance, as well as sustainable development aspects such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, habitat protection restoration and management, water use and supply management, food security and livelihood management, pollution reduction and waste management.