Towards climate-ready marine protected areas: challenges and strategic pathways

Abstract Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are important tools for safeguarding biodiversity, sustaining ecosystem services, and supporting the resilience of marine social-ecological systems. Yet as climate change intensifies, MPAs can only achieve long-term effectiveness if climate considerations are deeply embedded in their design, management, and governance. Drawing on structured expert workshops across Europe, this study identifies the scientific, governance, and socio-economic dimensions required for making MPAs “climate-ready” and offers strategic priorities and actionable recommendations to support their implementation. Across the workshops, experts emphasised that for MPAs to be resilient to future climate impacts and support adaptation in coastal and marine environments, they must be ecologically robust, socially inclusive, supported by coherent governance frameworks, and capable of adapting to changing ocean conditions. To achieve these qualities, we outline four strategic priorities: (1) improving ecological monitoring and climate-informed spatial planning including attention to connectivity and climate refugia; (2) embedding equity and participatory governance to enhance social legitimacy; (3) aligning legal and institutional frameworks across sectors and scales; and (4) securing sustainable, long-term financing. Building on these priorities, our transdisciplinary process generated eleven recommendations, categorised by urgency and role in implementation as foundational, enabling, or long-term strategic actions. Together, the results provide a pathway for strengthening the climate-readiness of MPAs and MPA networks in Europe and beyond, by enhancing their scientific foundations and social legitimacy, improving governance alignment, and enabling adaptive management under climate change.