Industry State of Play

Meeting urgent global goals to address the intertwined global crises of biodiversity loss and climate change will require a strategic and integrated approach. As climate change is one of the largest and growing drivers of biodiversity loss, rapid deployment of offshore renewable energy (ORE) holds the potential to unite action on both crises – if global actors work together to unlock and enable a biodiversity-positive energy transition. This means ensuring ORE deployment is timely and delivered in the right way and in the right places.

Marine and coastal ecosystems are crucial for climate action and sustaining billions of livelihoods. However, human activities, including oil and gas extraction, overfishing, and pollution, compounded by climate change, are severely affecting marine habitats. This hinders the ocean's inherent ability to counteract climate change precisely when it's most needed.

A rapid transition to clean energy is critical to avoid the worst effects of climate change and to help halt fossil-fuel-driven biodiversity loss. The global build-out required for offshore wind alone is estimated to be at least 380 GW by 2030 and 2000 GW by 2050. As we aim to achieve this, safeguarding marine and coastal biodiversity is paramount. It's essential to weave this priority into a just and green energy transition, leveraging it as a pivotal tool against climate-induced biodiversity loss.

Offshore Renewables Working Group 

The UN Global Compact has created a platform for the offshore wind industry (Offshore Renewable Energy - ORE) to input experiences and best practices so that global knowledge-sharing and information exchange can drive, not only sustainable ocean management but also nature-positive outcomes as offshore renewable energy projects are rapidly deployed. The working group consists of UN specialized agencies, policy actors, academia, business leaders, and other knowledge brokers and focuses on: 

• Harmonization: Improving data/knowledge-sharing and harmonization across borders  
• Biodiversity: Net biodiversity positive ORE for sustainable and resilient marine ecosystems.  
• Co-existence: Inclusive and robust stakeholder and community engagement  

The working group has held a knowledge sharing workshop on improving data-sharing in the offshore renewables industry and on net positive impact on biodiversity in offshore renewables for sustainable and resilient marine ecosystems. Outputs of these workshops will be launched at COP 28 and include recommendations to governments, best practices, and a set of industry specific principles that will guide a standard approach for ORE action on net positive biodiversity goals. The working group consists of ocean industry, UN specialized organizations, policy actors, public authorities, academics, and other knowledge brokers.

The working group has held a knowledge sharing workshop on improving data-sharing in the offshore renewables industry and on net positive impact on biodiversity in offshore renewables for sustainable and resilient marine ecosystems. Outputs of these workshops will be launched at COP 28 and include recommendations to governments, best practices, and a set of industry specific principles that will guide a standard approach for ORE action on net positive biodiversity goals.