Moving towards Climate-smart Ocean Planning

The need to integrate climate knowledge into marine spatial planning (MSP) has been globally acknowledged in recent years. Yet, few of the existing marine spatial plans consider climate change explicitly. This is a critical oversight in a rapidly changing world. Areas where human activities are most amenable to take place today, together with conservation areas, will be modified under a changing ocean thus challenging established ocean plans. There will be new use-use conflicts, new environmental pressures, and new legal issues. To respond to these changes and effectively support a sustainable and equitable use of the ocean, MSP initiatives will need to become “climate-smart”, integrating climate-related information and foreseeing adaptation pathways, along with truly supporting biodiversity conservation and ecosystems health.

Aligned with the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate impacts, in late 2022 the UNESCO and the European Commission launched a joint MSP roadmap that identifies the development of climate-smart MSP as one of the six key priority areas for the next five years. The World Bank also highlighted the benefits of supporting climate-informed MSP for mitigation and resilience. Following these calls to action, we propose to launch a collection in npj Ocean Sustainability that will take stock of case studies, conceptual assessments, and advances on leveraging climate-ready solutions for ocean planning to support rapid transformations towards sustainability. The goal is to reveal progress, advance research, and inspire action on the development of ocean plans that are resilient to climate impacts, as well as to identify solutions to support ocean-based climate adaptation and mitigation solutions through spatial planning, in ways that support biodiversity conservation, social equity, and human well-being.

From a policy perspective, our collection links particularly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 14. The former urges us to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”, while the latter aims at conserving and sustainably using “the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. This collection will argue that MSP will not be sustainable, equitable, viable, relevant, and useful in the long-term if current and future climate-related risks and opportunities are not properly considered during the design and implementation of ocean plans, and if adaptive solutions are not properly ensured to achieve economic, environmental, and social goals in a changing ocean.

We welcome original articles, perspective papers, and comments, from both the Global North and Global South, that address different dimensions and issues related to the development and implementation of climate-smart MSP. Contributions may focus on conceptual discussions or applications to specific case studies. Papers can address, but are not limited to:

• The integration of climate-related knowledge (ecological, social, economic) into MSP, unravelling climate opportunities and risks.
• Pathways to support dynamic, flexible, and adaptive MSP solutions to respond to climate change (and other types of change).
• MSP as a vehicle to support climate adaptation solutions.
• MSP supporting climate change mitigation.
• MSP as an approach to integrated ocean management to consider climate-induced risks and opportunities at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
• Fresh perspectives on climate-smart MSP, addressing other environmental, social, economic, and political challenges and pathways.