MARE researchers in Nature - Ten Key Components to Foster Climate-Smart Marine Spatial Planning Globally
This Tuesday, March 12, the scientific article "Key components of sustainable climate-smart ocean planning" was published in the scientific journal of the Nature group - npj Ocean Sustainability. Led by Catarina Frazão Santos, researcher and professor at Ciências ULisboa, the team of scientists identified ten key components that will promote the development and implementation of sustainable, equitable, climate-smart ocean planning initiatives around the globe.
The study was developed jointly by scientists and experts from international organizations and academic institutions in Portugal, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom. It also includes the participation of two other researchers from MARE-ULisboa, Helena Calado, a professor at the University of the Azores, and Sara García-Morales, a PhD student at MARE and the Institute of Biology and Biodiversity in Chile.
In the article the researchers outlined guidelines to support marine managers and planners on how to develop climate-smart ocean plans and put them into action. “While MSP is being developed in over 75 countries all around the globe, to date no ocean plan has integrated climate change comprehensively,” said Frazão Santos. “With this Perspective, we aim to address this challenge and provide solutions to moving forward. The components are also intended to provide a checklist to support the assessment and monitoring of the level of ‘climate-smartness’ of existing and future MSP initiatives.”
The guidelines come at a critical time as UNESCO and the European Commission jointly launched a global MSP roadmap identifying climate-smart MSP as a key priority area for 2022–2027. Several other institutions like the World Bank or the United Nations Global Compact have also highlighted the need for climate-smart MSP. However, at a practical level, decision-makers and practitioners greatly need guidance on how to act.
“We aim to foster further debate and advance a highly relevant topic for the future of our ocean,” said Frazão Santos. “The piece also comes at an important time as the MSP global initiative, by UNESCO and the European Commission, is expected to develop a guide on climate-smart MSP by late 2024.”
You can access the article HERE
Operational pathways and foundational principles
The proposed ten key components include foundational principles (underpinning the entire planning process) and operational pathways (practical channels to action). All are deeply interrelated and believed to function best as a coherent whole. However, the authors recognize that as components are context-dependent (being influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors), in some cases some will be more prevalent than others.
