Overcoming the climate and biodiversity crises will require creative solutions and strategic policies. Offshore wind energy development is a major component of global renewable energy strategies, and its deployment is accelerating worldwide. However, if not implemented carefully, offshore wind energy development may also pose immediate threats to wildlife. Numerous discussions are underway to determine how offshore wind energy can be developed in a way that benefits biodiversity, but answering that question effectively at scale requires targeted interventions for impacts to particular taxa.
To develop offshore wind energy responsibly, it is crucial to implement a comprehensive mitigation hierarchy that effectively addresses cumulative impacts via avoidance, minimization, and offsetting (i.e., compensation for residual impacts via reduction of alternate threats to populations).
Join us to explore existing approaches to offset for impacts to marine birds, and to discuss needs for offsetting strategies to simultaneously facilitate renewable energy development and biodiversity conservation.
This webinar is delivered by the GINGR Technical Working Group on Metrics in association with The Biodiversity Consultancy, IUCN and the University of California - Santa Cruz. It builds upon RGI's offshore work in collaboration with Members of the Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN).