Have you heard of cumulative impacts - the combined effects of past, present and planned activities on marine (or terrestrial) ecosystems?
While the need to assess these impacts has been enshrined in EU legislation for quite a while, their importance is gaining more attention in the context of the energy transition at sea, as the number and the size of offshore renewable energy installations is expected to increase considerably.
This week I attended a very insightful conference on cumulative impacts in the North Sea - thanks to the VELUX FONDEN and Tænketanken Hav for organising it and bringing together such a diverse group of experts!
Inevitably, when discussing cumulative impacts and the environmental impact of offshore renewable energy, governance takes a central role in the conversation.
My colleague, Ann Dom, was one of the speakers and provided concrete recommendations on behalf of Seas At Risk to improve governance in the North Sea - and beyond - and restore the health of marine ecosystems:
🤝 more international cooperation: marine biodiversity knows no borders and putting nature at the heart of planning processes requires a collaborative approach.
💵 more funding to support effective nature restoration and a just transition for people and stakeholders.
🔗 strong policy coherence: we need to phase out human activities that are still taking space at sea while driving the climate and biodiversity crises, and we need coherence between land and marine policies.
The many insightful panels were followed by several interactive workshops that gave me food for thought.
Here are some of my key takeaways on actions to complement governance and proritise nature and people in the energy transition at sea:
● strengthen data collection and harmonise assessments frameworks to support spatial planning and environmental assessments.
● integrate social considerations into cumulative impact assessments.
● use non-price criteria to incentivise nature-inclusive and socially just practices in the energy transition at sea.
● explore the potential of multi-use (the co-location of offshore renewable energy with other low-impact activities).
