Planning for Sustainable Ocean Use in Antarctica Under Global Environmental Change

Introduction

Planning of marine areas is being developed worldwide to support ocean sustainability. However, few existing marine spatial planning (MSP) initiatives consider climate change explicitly. This is a critical oversight in a rapidly changing world.

The Situation in Antarctica

At the same time, no formal MSP initiatives are envisioned for Antarctica; it is the only ocean basin globally without MSP under development. Antarctica is changing rapidly with potential repercussions around the planet, particularly for:

1. Sea-level rise
2. Climate regulation
3. Marine ecosystems functioning

Developing integrated, sustainable MSP for Antarctica is now more fundamental than ever.

Consequences of Excluding Climate Effects

Excluding climate effects from MSP will lead to plans that are maladaptive and inefficient in sustaining marine ecosystems and their use under change. By contrast, if designed with climate objectives, MSP can provide substantial benefits while requiring few trade-offs.

Efforts must be thus put together to effectively move towards climate-smart MSP in Antarctica and globally.

Challenges to Climate-Smart MSP

Yet, contextual idiosyncrasies (political, social, economic) limit the effectiveness of such efforts. Understanding what challenges hinder the development of climate-smart MSP, in Antarctica and globally, and pointing ways to overcome such challenges is key.

The PLAnT Initiative

PLAnT will take up, for the very first time, such a critical task. It will:

• Assess social-ecological vulnerabilities
• Build future scenarios
• Support area-based climate action and dynamic solutions
• Conduct governance analyses
• Foster a paradigm shift on how to plan for sustainability and equity under change

Conclusion

Research on complex social-ecological systems rarely leads to one-size solutions, and there is a risk that solutions identified in PLAnT are context-specific. Still, PLAnT will inspire nations worldwide to find pathways and solutions to support ocean sustainability. At a time when the latter is firmly established in the international agenda, taking a leap forward on this topic is ground-breaking.