On July 19, 2023, UNEP-IEMP received Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, Coordinator of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), as part of his mission to China.

During his visit, Mr. Mahesh Pradhan was warmly welcomed by the UNEP-IEMP team. He briefly explained about the COBSEA, which is a regional intergovernmental mechanism bringing together nine countries (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam) in development and protection of the marine environment and coastal areas of East Asian Seas. COBSEA is one of 18 Regional Seas programmes, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat is hosted by Thailand. COBSEA focuses on addressing marine pollution, strengthening marine and coastal planning and management, and strengthened regional governance for marine environmental management. Then, Ms. Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP, introduced the work of UNEP-IEMP. Discussion was followed on potential cooperation, for example on land-based pollution from agriculture, habitat conservation, sustainable blue economy and marine and coastal biodiversity conservation under the Global Biodiversity Framework in China and other COBSEA countries.