The balikBalangay Activity Planner for 2018 – an outline summary
Introduction
For the year 2018, the balikBalangay as a Track 1.5 entity plans to concentrate its activities towards contributing to the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027). To this end, it has written an extended commentary entitled Implementing the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) (www.balikbalangay.com) around which would revolve the planning and organizing its activities for the year 2018, which is already the second year of the decade 2017-2027. The extended commentary shall serve as key reference in this direction.
The balikBalangay advocacy of the past years on regional ocean governance is fully expressed in articles appearing on its website and finds parallels in so many important elements of the aforementioned ASEAN-China Declaration. This gives the balikBalangay the confidence and competence pursuing this intended contribution towards implementation of the Declaration. It aims to take on the role of a Track 1.5 resource and facilitator in this endeavour, which is its most challenging activity. It is open to appropriate partnership arrangements with NGO’s and entities sharing an ocean conservation advocacy.
In line with the above, the balikBalangay at 2018 and thenceforth, in an enlargement and enhancement of its mission advocacy aims, to embark at active partnerships in practical undertakings focussed on the Declaration which embodies its advocacy thrust over the years; always within bounds of its Track 1.5 character. This would entail interactions at Track 1, Track 1.5 and Track 2 levels. This work activity planner for 2018 incorporates solicitations of logistical and grant support from interested parties where it is admittedly deficient.
Outcomes for the year 2018
To ‘kick-start’ discussions related to the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) for the promotion and facilitation of activities to foster collective regional cooperation in the area of sustainable marine resource and ecosystem management including actions to mitigate impacts and significant adverse impacts on identified vulnerable marine ecosystems.
Planned activities for 2018 and assigned time frames :
(January – March 2018)
1. Conduct solicitations for expressions of interest in the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) and the balikBalangay proposal for Implementing the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027). It must be noted that the Declaration already highlights several ocean governance activities for the decade 2017-2027, herein restated as follows::
2. To secure commitments and support for action from all interested parties as a first step; and thereafter to work at the creation of an Informal Workshop composed of a mix of Track 1.5 and Track 2 scientists and experts to discuss and agree on initial steps forward towards formulating a collective regional cooperation in the areas of marine resource and ecosystem management.
(March – April 2018)
1. Analysis of responses/reactions of interested parties and circulate a summary of the results of the solicitation of expressions of interest, and pursue further ideas and inputs gleaned from responses. Other relevant Track 1 and Track 1.5 entities in ASEAN Member States and China may be shared with the information for consideration towards initiating a facilitated and coordinated action.
2. To establish Track 1.5 entities as an Informal Workshop as abovementioned, that would contribute a supporting and facilitating role for an anticipated ASEAN-China Conference of Parties to formalize an UNCLOS Part IX agreement towards collective and cooperative regional ocean governance, including establishing an appropriate regional organization. A “starter package” to kick-start collective cooperation within the context of a proposed framework for an Action Plan for implementing the Declaration, shall also be formulated.
3. To map out Track 1.5 strategies and plans as an Informal Workshop, towards participation in the Conference of Parties by offering assistance support in the development of the Agenda and drafting the Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration. A secretariat under the Informal Workshop shall also be established.
(May – July 2018)
1. Finalize outputs of the Informal Workshop in time to contribute inputs to the ASEAN-China Dialogue Meeting in August 2018.
2. To seek to assist the Track 1 Lead Shepherd and submit inputs of the Informal Workshop towards developing a draft Agenda for the Conference of Parties and facilitate for advance distribution to ASEAN Member States and China with annotations highlighting the inputs of South China Sea coastal States. The wider distribution of Track 1.5 inputs, especially scientific papers and informative articles for the “man on the street” would be contributory to a more profound and general understanding of the situation and issues relating to the coastal and marine environment in the South China Sea, and transboundary pollution and climate change.
3. Commence work on a Track 1.5 social media publicity campaign e.g. Twitter, Facebook, webpage on the draft Plan of Action.
(August – September 2018)
1. Prepare side events, lectures, round table discussions, etc., promoting ocean governance in all its aspects and, in particular, the Conference of Parties.
2. Continue work along all of the foregoing lines of action.
(October – December 2018)
1. Review all Track 1.5 preparations and participation in the Conference of Parties.
2. Review and anticipate challenges and mitigate concerns.
3. Seek ways to maintain momentum of the exercise and possible establishment of a centralized Track 1.5 secretariat to continue facilitation of these activities.
It must always be borne in mind that the balikBalangay role and activities is a Track 1.5 supporting role for a Track 1 event. It must keep close monitoring and coordination with Track 1 for the efficient and constructive discharge of its self-assigned role, and that of the Informal Workshop wherein in must seek a Track 1.5 Lead Shepherd role. Finally, a fluidity of the Planner of Activities must be an accepted part at this time, for the reason that it is mainly anticipatory of the Track 1 direction and also anticipatorily working at incorporating Track 1.5 inputs. In other words, appropriate changes and adjustments in the overall work program for 2018 can be expected, and may even spill over into 2019.
* * * * * * *
Introduction
For the year 2018, the balikBalangay as a Track 1.5 entity plans to concentrate its activities towards contributing to the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027). To this end, it has written an extended commentary entitled Implementing the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) (www.balikbalangay.com) around which would revolve the planning and organizing its activities for the year 2018, which is already the second year of the decade 2017-2027. The extended commentary shall serve as key reference in this direction.
The balikBalangay advocacy of the past years on regional ocean governance is fully expressed in articles appearing on its website and finds parallels in so many important elements of the aforementioned ASEAN-China Declaration. This gives the balikBalangay the confidence and competence pursuing this intended contribution towards implementation of the Declaration. It aims to take on the role of a Track 1.5 resource and facilitator in this endeavour, which is its most challenging activity. It is open to appropriate partnership arrangements with NGO’s and entities sharing an ocean conservation advocacy.
In line with the above, the balikBalangay at 2018 and thenceforth, in an enlargement and enhancement of its mission advocacy aims, to embark at active partnerships in practical undertakings focussed on the Declaration which embodies its advocacy thrust over the years; always within bounds of its Track 1.5 character. This would entail interactions at Track 1, Track 1.5 and Track 2 levels. This work activity planner for 2018 incorporates solicitations of logistical and grant support from interested parties where it is admittedly deficient.
Outcomes for the year 2018
To ‘kick-start’ discussions related to the implementation of the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) for the promotion and facilitation of activities to foster collective regional cooperation in the area of sustainable marine resource and ecosystem management including actions to mitigate impacts and significant adverse impacts on identified vulnerable marine ecosystems.
- To promote general agreement that sustainable management of the marine resources and their ecosystems are paramount in this sensitive South China Sea maritime region that can only be conserved, managed and protected through collective cooperation among primary Stakeholders i.e. ASEAN Member States and China, under the banner the South China Sea Uniting Coastal States. This would be under an assumed premise to transcend maritime jurisdictional issues in the South China Sea in efforts to promote cooperation for the higher regional interest of coastal and marine environmental protection. An equally important premise is that freedom of navigation is an intricate part of the issue of sustainable ocean governance and conservation management and will be addressed accordingly in the perspective identified among the regional coastal States.
- To pursue an organized campaign primarily through the Track 1.5 network that, taking into account the essential elements embodied in the Declaration, the envisioned regional collective cooperation must be within the UNCLOS Part IX legal and scientific framework in undertaking collective and cooperative practical undertakings, including the establishment of an appropriate regional organization.
- To create an initial format, the “broad brushstrokes”, for a Plan of Action under the Declaration with due consideration for the ocean governance Vision of China in connection with its maritime Belt and Road Initiative, as a proposal for Track 1 consideration and joint collaboration.
- To formulate a “starter package” as indicated in the Declaration, a prioritized program to address IUU fishing and fisheries conservation, Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), and transborder marine pollution; a development cluster that straddles the three pillars of AEC 2015 and further defined in many aspects under ASEAN Vision 2025.
- To seek to contribute Track 1.5 inputs in the development of a Plan of Action under the ASEAN-China Dialogue that issued the Declaration expectedly to be undertaken through an ASEAN-China Permanent Working Group (PWG). In this regard, to move to organize a Track 1.5 Informal Workshop composed of ASEAN-China scientists and experts from invited “other interested States” and “relevant international organizations” (and relevant non-governmental organizations) that would draft a Plan of Action using as template the conference process of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). The Informal Workshop in a shadow format patterned after UNCLOS Article 123, can later continue to serve as a “spectrum of resources” for the actual drafting, development and negotiations of the Plan of Action.
- To informally assume the role of a Track 1.5 lead shepherd as a Track 1 auxiliary for the above exercise and further related activities, to help realise the aspirations of the Parties to the Declaration. The Philippines would be best placed to take on the Track 1 Lead Shepherd role due to its central geographic location and its central geographic location and its recent lead in ASEAN50 and future lead of ASEAN60 at the end of the decade; and the balikBalangay as a Track 1.5 Lead Shepherd auxiliary.
Planned activities for 2018 and assigned time frames :
(January – March 2018)
1. Conduct solicitations for expressions of interest in the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027) and the balikBalangay proposal for Implementing the ASEAN-China Declaration For A Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017-2027). It must be noted that the Declaration already highlights several ocean governance activities for the decade 2017-2027, herein restated as follows::
- to promote responsible fishing practices, environmentally friendly fishing methods, and combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing
- the scientific conservation and management of marine resources and environment, biodiversity, and coastal zone of the ecosystem of the South China Sea
- the sustainable management and conservation of fresh water eco-systems such as lakes and rivers, wetlands, and adjacent estuaries along coastal areas in the overall health of the marine environment
- to continue developing and sustaining environmentally-friendly mechanisms to mitigate the effects of climate change and transboundary marine environmental pollution and degradation
2. To secure commitments and support for action from all interested parties as a first step; and thereafter to work at the creation of an Informal Workshop composed of a mix of Track 1.5 and Track 2 scientists and experts to discuss and agree on initial steps forward towards formulating a collective regional cooperation in the areas of marine resource and ecosystem management.
(March – April 2018)
1. Analysis of responses/reactions of interested parties and circulate a summary of the results of the solicitation of expressions of interest, and pursue further ideas and inputs gleaned from responses. Other relevant Track 1 and Track 1.5 entities in ASEAN Member States and China may be shared with the information for consideration towards initiating a facilitated and coordinated action.
2. To establish Track 1.5 entities as an Informal Workshop as abovementioned, that would contribute a supporting and facilitating role for an anticipated ASEAN-China Conference of Parties to formalize an UNCLOS Part IX agreement towards collective and cooperative regional ocean governance, including establishing an appropriate regional organization. A “starter package” to kick-start collective cooperation within the context of a proposed framework for an Action Plan for implementing the Declaration, shall also be formulated.
3. To map out Track 1.5 strategies and plans as an Informal Workshop, towards participation in the Conference of Parties by offering assistance support in the development of the Agenda and drafting the Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration. A secretariat under the Informal Workshop shall also be established.
(May – July 2018)
1. Finalize outputs of the Informal Workshop in time to contribute inputs to the ASEAN-China Dialogue Meeting in August 2018.
2. To seek to assist the Track 1 Lead Shepherd and submit inputs of the Informal Workshop towards developing a draft Agenda for the Conference of Parties and facilitate for advance distribution to ASEAN Member States and China with annotations highlighting the inputs of South China Sea coastal States. The wider distribution of Track 1.5 inputs, especially scientific papers and informative articles for the “man on the street” would be contributory to a more profound and general understanding of the situation and issues relating to the coastal and marine environment in the South China Sea, and transboundary pollution and climate change.
3. Commence work on a Track 1.5 social media publicity campaign e.g. Twitter, Facebook, webpage on the draft Plan of Action.
(August – September 2018)
1. Prepare side events, lectures, round table discussions, etc., promoting ocean governance in all its aspects and, in particular, the Conference of Parties.
2. Continue work along all of the foregoing lines of action.
(October – December 2018)
1. Review all Track 1.5 preparations and participation in the Conference of Parties.
2. Review and anticipate challenges and mitigate concerns.
3. Seek ways to maintain momentum of the exercise and possible establishment of a centralized Track 1.5 secretariat to continue facilitation of these activities.
It must always be borne in mind that the balikBalangay role and activities is a Track 1.5 supporting role for a Track 1 event. It must keep close monitoring and coordination with Track 1 for the efficient and constructive discharge of its self-assigned role, and that of the Informal Workshop wherein in must seek a Track 1.5 Lead Shepherd role. Finally, a fluidity of the Planner of Activities must be an accepted part at this time, for the reason that it is mainly anticipatory of the Track 1 direction and also anticipatorily working at incorporating Track 1.5 inputs. In other words, appropriate changes and adjustments in the overall work program for 2018 can be expected, and may even spill over into 2019.
* * * * * * *