Contribution of an Integrated Maritime Policy to the Dialogue of Civilisations: The Asia-Pacific Case

Abstract

Sustainable development of marine resources requires a robust national coastal and ocean policy and harmonization of environmental management systems in areas of overlapping interests among nations. This is becoming increasingly important in the efforts of governments worldwide. Critical issues related to the exploitation of natural resources and the degradation of marine ecosystems, coupled with global crosscutting environmental issues such as climate change and climate-related hazards, require forging cross-border cooperation and international consensus on ensuring ecosystem-based approach principles in marine management and maritime domain awareness and security as reflected in the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. Increasing the scale of marine planning processes entails increased cooperation on humankind’s shared endowment of global oceans and interconnected marine systems. As a result, interactions across the world are multiplying, which intensifies the dialogue of civilisations. The following exploration of a roadmap for developing an Integrated Marine/Maritime Policy in the Asia-Pacific region reveals enhanced opportunities for maintaining environmental integrity and sustainability in transboundary areas while considering local, regional, and global socio-economic and environmental challenges. This is a science-policy analysis of the marine-related practices of the region under consideration. The key here is to improve environmental safety and strengthen global security because of coherent actions jointly adopted in a setting of mutual respect and unity by a shared purpose to create reliable foundations for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.