Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of securing new Marine Protected Areas around Antarctica.

The UK remains committed to establishing a representative network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) around Antarctica. The UK-led proposal for the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf MPA was agreed in 2009. The UK also strongly supported the designation of the Ross Sea Region MPA agreed in 2016. The UK is co-proponent to MPA proposals for the Weddell Sea and East Antarctica and is engaging in negotiations on balancing fishing activity and marine protection around the Antarctic Peninsula. Climate change presents a real and immediate threat to Antarctic marine life and the UK will continue to advocate for the importance of ensuring there is robust protection in place to enhance ecosystem resilience.

The UK has been a vocal advocate for conservation and marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean since the inception of the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources inception in 1982. As a world-leading Antarctic science nation producing impactful science through institutions such as the British Antarctic Survey the UK is active in calling for additional marine protection in the Southern Ocean.