The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP), working closely with the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs), has published the first comprehensive assessment of climate change impacts on coasts and seas across the UKOTs. In this crucial year of global climate action, it highlights the UKOTs climate challenges and showcases where they are working with nature to build resilience to climate change.
The UKOTs constitute a small land area with large marine provinces, which collectively represent the 5th largest marine estate in the world. Extending from the polar ocean to tropical seas, they reflect a highly diverse range of habitats and people, with strong cultural identities closely tied to the sea.
Focusing on six key regions (Polar, Pacific, South Atlantic, Mediterranean, Caribbean and North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean), more than 60 leading experts from all 14 UKOTs prioritised and highlighted their most important ecological and societal climate challenges.
Although each Territory is unique, and in many cases geographically isolated, they share some common climate change issues. Full details of these Report Cards can be found HERE
In November – December 2022 the RRS Discovery travelled 9000 miles to the remote islands of Ascension and St Helena. Run as part of the UK Government’s Blue Belt Programme, this scientific expedition visited areas of previously uncharted ocean within the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of these south Atlantic islands. Introduced by international musician and […] Read more...