The Government announced its Marine Recovery Fund on Wednesday 17 December, an initiative intended to to safeguard Britain’s marine biodiversity and energy security.
By means of the fund, offshore wind developers will be able to pay into a government operated funding pot delivering meaningful environmental compensatory measures to restore and protect marine habitats.
“Britain’s seas are home to remarkable life, from seabirds that crowd its cliffs, to the dolphins, porpoises and shoals of fish that inhabit its waters,” said the announcement. “The fund will help extend existing and designate new Marine Protected Areas to safeguard the seabed.”
Future measures it is expected to deliver include actions to boost wildlife, such as controlling rats to support seabirds and creating offshore artificial nests for kittiwakes.
The government said the fund will unlock up to 19GW of offshore wind in the immediate term, providing the country with “the homegrown energy to deliver clean power by 2030 and protect households from volatile fossil fuel markets”.
Offshore wind is pivotal to achieving Net Zero by 2050, said Marine Minister Emma Hardy, who added: “Driving nature recovery and protecting the ecosystems that call Britain’s seas home is not a trade-off against clean energy, but a condition of delivery.
“This approach creates a win-win by unlocking clean power through faster decisions and protecting our seas and extraordinary wildlife.”
Offshore wind forms the backbone of the government’s plans to deliver its clean power mission as part of its Plan for Change. It also appears central to plans to drive growth by generating investment.
RenewableUK’s Head of Offshore Wind Celestia Godbehere said:
“As responsible developers, the offshore wind industry has been working closely with our colleagues at Defra and nature conservation organisations for many years to establish this groundbreaking fund and we’re very pleased to see this milestone achieved.
“The Marine Recovery Fund, paid for by offshore wind farm developers, will enhance the protection of wildlife in our seas by enabling more co-ordinated measures to be taken over much wider areas of seabed, across multiple offshore wind projects being developed by different companies.
“This system will also provide greater certainty and clarity for wind farm developers as we plan, build and operate projects generating clean power in harmony with our rich marine biodiversity.”
Katie-jo Luxton, director of conservation at the RSPB, said:
“Efforts to tackle climate change, restore the degraded marine environment and protect the wildlife that depends on it must go hand-in-hand.
“The Marine Recovery Fund will support this approach by delivering large-scale measures to compensate for seabird loss caused by offshore development, potentially through a mix of actions at sea and on land that support seabirds where they feed and breed.
“Seabirds are in crisis, with 62% of species in decline across the UK. We urgently need new offshore wind to decarbonise our energy system, but it adds to the pressure on marine wildlife through the risk of collisions and by disrupting feeding behaviour.
“To turn the tide for seabirds we need climate and nature solutions to be delivered in tandem, and this new fund will have a key role to play.”
By pooling contributions from developers, said the government, the fund will allow compensation measures for seabirds and other marine wildlife and habitats to be delivered strategically and at greater scale, driving nature recovery while speeding up the consenting process for new wind farms.
“It will mean faster decisions for developers, as pre-approved environmental measures reduce lengthy case-by-case negotiations.”
