Mrs. Sonam C. Namgyel, Director for Environment and Climate Change at the BIMSTEC Secretariat, participated in Asia Pacific Ocean Week 2026 which was convened by the ESCAP Secretariat at the UN Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand from 26-30 October 2026.  BIMSTEC’s interventions at APOW advocated for how the Bay of Bengal should become a model of regional ocean cooperation in which economic connectivity, sustainable blue growth, marine ecosystem protection, climate resilience and ocean science reinforce one another; suggested the value of thinking in terms of a mountains–rivers–coasts–ocean continuum; and further pointed to the value in BIMSTEC as a platform for connecting existing national, regional and international efforts.