Submitted by cms1u08 on

The UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) have recently published a paper on the key challenges and emerging issues facing the UK marine climate change community.

Identifying key challenges and emerging issues was a major part of MCCIP’s 2020 marine climate change impacts report card. With contributions from over 150 leading researchers across 50 organisations, the report card provides a unique, quality assured overview of the marine and coastal climate change evidence base for the UK. In the first instance, the 108 key challenges and emerging issues identified across the 26 topic reviews for the 2020 report card have been summarised and collated in one, easily accessible space, for use by the UK marine climate change community. These issues are drawn together as a set of one page challenge area narratives, responses to which were thoroughly examined with representatives from across the UK marine climate change community. Finally, a set of guiding principles< are presented, supported by best practice examples, to act as a ‘blueprint’ for action.

Many of the key challenges are familiar (e.g., ‘better’ integration of monitoring and modelling approaches) but barriers to their successful implementation have persisted over time and a more coordinated approach may be needed. Better integration will require evidence providers and users to find that ‘common language’ and maximise the benefits derived from research programmes (e.g., how data ‘flows’ and is reused to maximum effect, including what ‘value’ is added to maintain the flow from the point where evidence is generated through to its application by end users).

There are many good practice examples where barriers have been overcome and the guiding principles can act as a framework for integration, evidence gathering, communication and ensuring best outcomes. The outputs from this work will be of interest to all MCCIP stakeholders, including those planning major research programmes, overseeing marine and climate change strategies or delivering national climate risk assessments and adaptation planning.