The role of Latvia's maritime spatial planning in promoting the European Green Deal

Abstract

In an era of dynamic maritime spatial planning movement development, this paper offers insight into the relationship between Latvia’s national Maritime Spatial Plan 2030 and the European Green Deal. The paper analyses what this might signify concerning the implementation and subsequent assessment of the plan by exploring the role of the maritime spatial plan in Latvia’s planning system. Beginning with a brief history of how the national plan came to be, the paper then describes and evaluates the position of the maritime spatial plan within Latvia’s planning framework before examining the connection between the maritime spatial plan and the Green Deal, identifying contact points. This paper offers a starting framework for studying how closely maritime spatial planning is related to and capable of supporting ─ or at the very least taking into account ─ the goals of the Green Deal. The conclusion is that implementation of maritime spatial planning is rooted in the state planning system, the interconnection among policy documents, and the specifics of the maritime spatial plan itself.