The oceans – engines of life on Earth and our single greatest climate regulator – are caught in a catch 22. We urgently need to decarbonise our economy, which means rolling out renewable energy on a massive scale, including offshore sources such as fixed and floating wind farms. However, we also have to protect the seas – the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has called for protecting at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
These apparently contradictory goals pose a critical question: can we transition away from fossil fuels without compromising our oceans’ already weakened levels of biodiversity?
Marine energy’s vital role
Renewable energy is key to mitigating climate change by enabling the reduction of fossil fuel emissions. Marine energy sources are playing an increasingly important role – wind dominates, though wave and tidal energy also have great potential.
The European Union (EU) has made offshore wind a pillar of its decarbonisation strategy. The European Green Deal and the Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy predict a dramatic expansion of this technology: from 29 gigawatts (GW) in 2019 to 300GW in 2050.
This tenfold growth in just three decades is essential to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, while also boosting innovation, employment and energy security in Europe.
Protecting the oceans: ‘30×30’
The race for clean energy exists alongside another global emergency: the biodiversity crisis. Human activities have already altered 66% of the ocean surface, compromising its ecosystems. The loss of marine species and habitats is accelerated by destruction of natural environments, pollution, overexploitation and the impacts of climate change.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is a landmark agreement that aims to tackle this issue. One of its targets is known as “30×30”: a commitment to protecting at least 30% of marine areas by 2030. This is an ambitious target, given that currently less than 10% of the ocean is formally protected.
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The creation of marine protected areas is crucial to safeguarding not just biodiversity, but also the vital ecosystem services that the ocean provides: climate regulation, food supply and carbon sequestration.
Protecting biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems – such as Posidonia oceanica meadows and undisturbed marine sediments – offers mutually reinforcing benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation by absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. Nature-based solutions like these are some of the most immediately available ways to simultaneously address both crises.
Conflicts and challenges
The massive deployment of offshore renewables causes environmental impacts and conflicts that often clash head-on with efforts to conserve biodiversity.
The Mediterranean Sea, with over 17,000 species (28% of them endemic), is one of the world’s most vulnerable and fragmented seas. It is already under immense pressure from pollution, overfishing, tourism and maritime traffic, and the addition of thousands of energy infrastructures in such a sensitive area would only intensify these problems, as it would effectively industrialise many coastal and marine areas.
The conflict is mainly caused by competition for space: areas of high energy potential (wind or waves) often overlap with areas of high ecological value. In addition, there are the more direct impacts on marine fauna (noise, collisions, vibrations) and the alteration or destruction of marine habitats.
There are still significant unknowns about the true impact of macro-projects on ecosystems. Their cumulative and long-term effects on crucial areas – such as atmospheric and oceanic currents and ocean productivity – are largely unknown or insufficiently studied. In the face of such uncertainty, prudence dictates that we apply the precautionary principle.
As things stand, there are no permanent wind installations in the Mediterranean, just one pilot project in France with three turbines and several other projects still at the planning stages. In a sea that is already at its limit, new pressures are raising serious doubts about the compatibility of climate and biodiversity objectives, and this means careful planning is essential.
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Sustainable coesxistence
The good news is that decarbonising our economy and protecting the oceans are not inherently incompatible – in fact, they are mutually reinforcing goals. The key lies in careful planning of marine space.
The key tool in achieving this is maritime spatial planning (MSP). This process organises the uses of the sea (energy, fisheries and aquaculture, transport, tourism, conservation) to identify areas of high ecological value to be protected, and areas suitable for energy development. By doing this, it minimises conflicts, and offers a roadmap for integrated and multifunctional management of the seas.
The end goal is a net positive impact, so that renewable energy projects not only minimise damage, but also contribute to the improvement of ecosystems. This is achieved through effective mitigation of negative impacts, compensation and ecological restoration.
Collaboration and dialogue between governments, industry, fisheries, scientists and conservationists is vital. Consideration of local communities – the fishing and tourism sectors, as well as coastal residents – is key to a just and equitable energy transition. Working together is the only way to find innovative solutions that balance renewable energy with the protection of biodiversity and ocean ecosystem services.
Balancing decarbonisation and conservation
The climate crisis and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin and addressing either in isolation would be a mistake. The decarbonisation of our economy and the protection of marine biodiversity must not only coexist, they must reinforce one another.
It is therefore crucial that the expansion of marine renewables is done with a holistic and proactive vision, prioritising ecosystem health and integrating nature-based solutions from the outset.
We can, and must, harness the ocean’s immense energy potential without compromising its health and the wellbeing of local communities. The future requires a symbiosis between technological innovation and research into local ecological and socio-economic impacts.
Integrating climate change mitigation with biodiversity conservation is the key to creating sustainable marine energy.
