SEA of Solutions 2026

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) are jointly organizing the 7th SEA of Solutions Forum on 28 October 2026 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, as part of the first Asia Pacific Ocean Week.Registration is now open: Register here! BackgroundThe SEA of Solutions 2026 Forum aims to bring together stakeholders, including representatives from governments, United Nations entities, regional organizations, civil society, academia, youth, the private sector, financial institutions and development partners, to advance action on plastic pollution and marine litter across Asia and the Pacific.This year, SEA of Solutions will focus on moving from solutions and commitments towards implementation and greater impact. Under the theme “Partnerships and Solutions for Action on Plastic Pollution,” the Forum will explore how stronger enabling environments, partnerships and regional collaboration can accelerate implementation and help scale up practical solutions across the region.The programme will feature plenaries and thematic sessions covering policy and governance, financing and investment, behaviour change and inclusion, practical solutions and innovation, and regional collaboration and scale-up.For any questions, please contact unep-cobsea@un.org, with a copy to hyunjeong.jin@un.org.Supporting Projects and PartnersThe 2026 SEA of Solutions Forum is supported through the following projects:Piloting Integrated Solid Waste Management Solutions in Indonesia and Viet Nam with Scalable Impact across the East Asian Seas, supported by the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and implemented by UNEP-COBSEA; andGlobal Project on Marine Litter Prevention, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the Federal German Ministry for the Environment (BMUKN).UNEP COBSEA is a regional intergovernmental mechanism that was established in 1981 which brings together nine participating countries of the East Asian Seas region – Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam – in protect and sustainably managing the marine environment. In 2019, COBSEA’s 24th Intergovernmental Meeting revised and adopted the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI).UNEP is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional levels. Through the UNEP Plastics Initiative, UNEP brings together its plastic-related projects and results to accelerate the transition towards a safe and circular economy for plastics. More than 12 active projects are currently being implemented in 41 countries, including the GEF-funded Circular Solutions to Plastic Pollution Integrated Programme, which supports 15 national projects and one global project.