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?

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.

The race for clean energy exists alongside another global emergency: the biodiversity crisis. Human activities have already altered

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