Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the ocean sciences sector in protecting coastal areas; and what assessment they have made of the research opportunities such protection creates, particularly in relation to (1) climate change adaptation, (2) energy security, and (3) developing new and innovative technology.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Defra have funded a £14.8 million Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas Programme which will fund projects to enhance our knowledge of how to strengthen the resilience, health and wellbeing of UK coastal communities.

UKRI has also invested in the coastal economy, for example through the ECOflow and ECOWind programmes, supporting the rollout of clean energy in offshore wind, and an £11 million programme to build resilience to climate change in coastal communities and support their economic development.

More widely, Defra is working with the sector to help establish support it in the establishment of Marine Science UK (MSUK). MSUK acts as a collective voice for marine science across UK universities and research organisations, to champion the ocean and to communicate robust and coherent marine science evidence to government, industry and the wider community.