Ocean issues are international in nature, requiring global collaboration and cooperation under an international framework for their solutions. In keeping with this idea, OPRI has actively participated in international discussions on ocean issues and has communicated our country's initiatives along with exchanging ideas on advanced initiatives undertaken by other countries and international organizations.
Ocean officials from international organizations, states, research institutes, and NGOs discuss ocean issues at the Global Ocean Forum (GOF), where OPRI was the only participating organization from Japan at its establishment. OPRI has made many contributions to GOF, including co-sponsoring "Oceans Day," a side event at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), as a major member together with the Global Ocean Forum (GOF), the State Oceanic Administration of the People's Republic of China, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the University of Delaware. OPRI then contributed to the "ocean" becoming an independent heading in the Rio+20 outcome document by supporting the formation of the "Rio Ocean Declaration," which incorporated steps corresponding to the enhancement of integrated management of the ocean, promotion of the fishing industry for social and economic benefits, and climate change and ocean acidification.
OPRI is the only Japanese NGO that holds a special consultative status for the UN Economic and Social Council on the ocean and has actively participated in discussions on ocean governance, including at the Rio Earth Summit, WSSD and Rio+20, major conferences related to action plans, the Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (SPLOS), and the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS)
Furthermore, as for the East Asian region, OPRI joined the UN project "Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA)" as a non-governmental organization, ahead of the government, which joined from 2009. Hiroshi Terashima, then President of OPRI, worked as the technical session chairperson (2007-2013), and OPRI actively contributed to the formulation and implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), co-sponsored the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, and assisted in PEMSEA's transition to a regional international organization.
In addition, OPRI reached out to East Asian ocean policy research institutes in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, among other countries, to establish the Ocean Policy Institute Network in the East Asia Region (OPINEAR), and has been working as its coordinator and main office. Through OPINEAR, OPRI has contributed to ocean policies for the East Asian region, facilitating information sharing on the implementation of ocean governance, research collaboration, and construction of a network of affiliated institutes.
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