RTRC-Coastal COMMIT
On 5th April 2023, the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) received unanimous support from Member States at the 14th Intergovernmental Session of the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) (4-6 April 2023, Jakarta, Indonesia) to host the first UNESCO Regional Training and Research Centre on Coastal Contaminant Monitoring and Marine Innovative Technologies (the RTRC-Coastal COMMIT) for the Western Pacific region in Hong Kong. This is the third UNESCO Regional Training and Research Centre in China and the sixth in the Western Pacific region.
The RTRC-Coastal COMMIT aims to meet the needs of the WESTPAC region for ensuring ecological safety, and thereby protecting essential marine habitats and conserving biodiversity and natural resources therein. We will assist countries, particularly the developing nations, in the WESTPAC region and its adjacent areas, in building their research capacity in coastal contaminant monitoring through knowledge exchange and technology transfer. We also plan to provide a series of training courses in several areas, such as monitoring contaminants of emerging concern (e.g. per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), environmental risk assessment, coral reef survey techniques, and research on toxic benthic algae.
The objectives of RTRC-Coastal COMMIT's future work in the field of coastal contaminant monitoring and innovative technologies are: (1) through training and technology transfer, it will enhance the monitoring and risk assessment of chemical pollutants in the region, and the capacity building of marine innovation technologies; (2) it will catalyse members to co-design and implement regional research cooperation projects to better understand the current situation regarding chemical pollutants, and promote marine environmental protection and sustainable development; and (3) it will recommend effective regulatory measures to protect the marine environment of the Western Pacific region.
RTRC-Coastal COMMIT will contribute greatly to the achievement of the UN Ocean Decade Societal Outcomes: a clean ocean, a healthy and resilient ocean, and a productive ocean.