Tristan Storms Highlighted at Climate-Change Event
Report from the Tristan Government's UK Representative Chris Carnegy
Storm damage on Tristan was in focus on 21st July 2021, when the UK's Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) convened an online seminar to launch a major report on the Overseas Territories.
Slide shown at the seminar illustrating Tristan's 2019 storm damage
Images of storms and their effect on the island appeared on screen as the South Atlantic report was given. The focus was on the risk from extreme weather events, which have already caused landslides on Tristan, along with the vulnerability of Tristan's inshore kelp forests to the threat of ocean warming.
Tristan da Cunha's Head of Conservation Trevor Glass, and Environmental and Conservation Policy Officer Stephanie Martin, were credited for helping compile the report.
In a keynote address, UK environment minister Lord Zac Goldsmith stressed the link between climate change and ocean protection. He repeated previous praise for Tristan as one of the OTs' "shining examples of leadership" in conservation, saying "I couldn't have been happier or more grateful than when just a few months ago Tristan da Cunha's islanders in the South Atlantic announced a new marine protection zone three times the size of the UK".
The MCCIP brings together scientists, government, its agencies and NGOs to provide co-ordinated advice on climate change impacts and adaptation.