Presentations

Abstract

Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are proliferating globally across marine ecosystems. We argue that allocating a percentage of OWF investments to marine restoration, nature inclusive design (NID) and offsetting as a licensing fee for the appropriation of marine space can catalyse wider marine restoration.  Next to traditional avoidance, mitigation and compensation measures to reduce the negative environmental impact of OWF, OWF projects should fuel wider marine restoration in order to make a nature positive impact. This includes setting up large-scale marine protected areas and large-scale application of active ecosystem restoration, standardized application of NIDs and offsetting to recover severely degraded key habitats and species. These marine conservation and restoration actions combined are effective when a mere percentage of the forecasted US$ 6 trillion global OWF investments until 2050 is allocated. This yields a historic opportunity to achieve global biodiversity goals while also contributing towards a more stable regulatory climate for future development of OWFs (van Sluis et al., 2025).  Measures supporting wider marine restoration can be fuelled via nature-inclusive OWF tenders or integrated in (inter)national policy next to assessment frameworks and guidelines used by investors such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Morgan Stanley Capital International Environmental, Social, and Governance (MSCI ESG) and Standard & Poor's Global (S&P Global). All methods come with their own pros and cons.  In our presentation we discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of these strategies. We also discuss insights that support a more efficient integration of OWF development and wider marine restoration at large scales; a strategy that benefits both renewable energy development and nature restoration, targeting the climate and nature crisis.