The Minister for Environment, John Cortes, in his role of Chair of the UK Overseas Territories Environment Ministers’ Council, participated virtually in the launch of the Roadmap towards climate- smart marine spatial planning in the UK Overseas Territories.

The Roadmap was led by scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, in partnership with colleagues from the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), and outlines how the four key ‘enablers’ of climate evidence, governance, resources and communication could support the development of effective climate-smart marine spatial planning (CSMSP) in the territories.

UKOTs are home to some of the world’s most biodiverse and economically vital marine environments, yet they are facing growing challenges from climate change, including warmer seas, rising sea levels, stronger storms and ocean acidification, which all threaten local communities, economies and marine ecosystems, as outlined in the first MCCIP-UKOTs project .

The launch included contributions from Minister Hon. Kyle Hodge of the Government of Anguilla and Minister Hon Zhavaego Jolly, of the Government of Turks and Caicos, as well as from Prof Matt Frost, MCCIP Chair.

In his contribution in closing the launch event, Minister Cortes stressed that Climate Change is having significant impacts on UKOTs and is projected to do so well into the future. He stressed the importance of taking account of this fact in marine spatial planning, and how this project could inspire similar work in other Overseas Territories and small islands.