Reconciling offshore wind energy and biodiversity governance: Lessons from the North Sea region

The North Sea region is pivotal in achieving the EUs ambitious renewable energy targets, with offshore wind energy (OWE) playing a crucial role in the transition to sustainable energy. However, the expansion of OWE presents significant challenges to marine biodiversity, highlighting the need to reconcile OWE development with biodiversity conservation in support of progress towards the European Green Deal.

Despite various directives and regulations at the EU and domestic level, there are notable incoherences in offshore renewable energy and biodiversity governance. For instance, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) purports to accelerate permitting processes but lacks alignment with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and introduces important exceptions to the existing nature conservation rules within the EU, potentially compromising the level of protection of marine biodiversity. Similarly, the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD), praised by the EU as offering the remedy to both the spatial challenges and biodiversity challenges created by the proliferation of OWE, has been criticized for prioritizing OWE expansion over nature conservation. At the same time, the recent Nature Restoration Regulation’s impact on aligning OWE growth with biodiversity goals remains uncertain, because it expressly prioritizes the long-term climate benefits of OWE’s expansion over the foreseeable short-term damage to nature.

In the CrossGov project, we conducted case studies on offshore wind governance in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Based on the application of CrossGov’s policy coherence evaluation framework in these contexts, we present insights about the gaps and opportunities for better conservation, protection, and restoration of biodiversity within OWE governance. While focusing on the North Sea Region, these insights can provide valuable guidance for other regions within Europe and beyond struggling to overcome challenges related to incoherences between offshore energy and biodiversity policies. These lessons are essential for developing pathways toward more holistic and balanced ocean governance.