Inquiry into The UK Small Island Developing States Strategy

International Development Committee

Written Evidence submitted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ocean, June 2023

Introduction

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ocean was founded to provide a collective space where all parliamentarians can support and promote ocean research and awareness, to develop greater understanding of the ocean, and its role in tackling challenges such as climate change. The Group is chaired by Sally-Ann Hart MP, and Vice Chairs include Sir Oliver Heald MP, Afzal Khan MP, Theo Clarke MP, Baroness Jones, Virginia Crosbie MP, Dr Matthew Offord MP, Selaine Saxby MP and Sarah Champion MP.

Since its launch in May 2022, the APPG for the Ocean has held a number of briefings and meetings on a range of ocean-related topics, including plastic pollution, COP27, the UN Global Ocean Treaty and ocean literacy. The APPG’s first inquiry report, The Ocean: Turning the Tide on Climate Change, examined blue carbon and ocean-based solutions to climate change, and called on the Government to prioritise and facilitate investment in blue carbon and ocean-based solutions in order to combat climate change. Three of the recommendations made in the report were echoed in the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan. The APPG has recently launched its second inquiry, into the future of ocean technology.

Summary

The APPG for the Ocean, and its chair Sally-Ann Hart MP, welcomes the opportunity to provide written evidence to the International Development Committee’s Inquiry into the UK Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Strategy 2022-2026.

The APPG for the Ocean supports the SIDS Strategy and the six priorities highlighted which support the UK’s wider foreign policy and development goals. The Strategy’s first two areas of focus, Climate Change and Natural Disasters and Ocean and Biodiversity, are of particular relevance. With SIDS making up 14% of the world’s coastline, and with 80% of the global SIDS population living near the coast, it is imperative that the ocean is managed, protected and preserved, in order to support these communities, grow their economies and strengthen their resilience to climate change.

Any effective SIDS strategy must be accompanied by sustained funding to enable the development of long-term and collaborative relationships with stakeholders and delivery partners. While it is ambitious to try and address the challenges that face SIDS in one single strategy, placing the SIDS populations themselves at the heart of its implementation will lead to the best results. Furthermore, implementation of the strategy should consider the knowledge and understanding of the already existing regional, international and global initiatives that deliver capability within the SIDS, which can be utilised in a coordinated manner.

The importance of the ocean’s role in climate change adaptation and mitigation cannot be understated. The APPG for the Ocean’s inquiry report into blue carbon and ocean-based solutions to climate change recognises that “discussions on climate change tend to overlook the role that the ocean can play”, yet since 1978, “over 90% of the Earth’s increased heat and 40% of carbon emitted from burning fossil fuels have been absorbed by the ocean.” The ocean has a significant potential to remove, store and sequester carbon dioxide, “which can mitigate climate change and lessen the severity of some of the consequences”, yet blue carbon habitats and the ocean are victims of destruction and degradation, leading to greater risk of climate change and negative consequences.

The most effective support that the UK can provide to SIDS, as highlighted in the SIDS Strategy, is through enhancing and advocating for greater climate resilience. This can be via physical infrastructure, technology, and greater research and understanding of ocean science. Marine infrastructure, such as tide gauges, can play a significant role in this effort. An effective tide gauge system can support coastal management policy via sea-level rise projections, and also act as an early warning system for coastal disasters such as tsunamis, which are more common in SIDS. The National Oceanography Centre, for example, installed six sea level monitoring stations for early warning purposes in St Lucia, Dominica and Belize through the Commonwealth Marine Economics Programme. These sorts of techniques, alongside other ocean technology that can monitor, model and forecast ocean conditions and potential future conditions, are instrumental in achieving greater climate change resilience in SIDS. As SIDS more commonly experience natural and coastal disasters, and face challenges such as sea level rise and flooding (which have severe impacts on coastal economies, infrastructure and livelihoods), it is imperative to ensure that the ocean is managed and protected to deliver greater climate change adaptation and resilience.

The APPG for the Ocean also recognises that SIDS have responsibilities for vast areas of open ocean. The recently agreed treaty for the High Seas (BBNJ), which the APPG was delighted to host a briefing from Greenpeace on, will have dedicated funding related to contributions to support the transfer of marine technology and training in their use and maintenance that SIDS can access. It is important that the UK continues to promote world-leading open ocean research capabilities to support capacity building within SIDS areas.

The APPG for the Ocean therefore welcomes and supports the SIDS Strategy, in particular, the focus on climate change and natural disasters, and ocean and biodiversity. The APPG for the Ocean recommends that any programmes and projects which are funded to support the SIDS Strategy are long-term, co-designed and coordinated within existing frameworks of the region. Most importantly, the ocean, blue carbon habitats and ocean-based solutions, must play a key role in any strategy and long-term thinking on SIDS climate resilience. The APPG for the Ocean is delighted to see constructive and informative conversations taking place which highlight the importance of the ocean and the role it plays in greater climate resilience and economic growth in SIDS, and recommends that this continues to be at the heart of UK Government decision-making.