Posted on July 9, 2025
Allocating just 1 per cent of the global offshore wind investments from now until 2050, which are projected to be USD 6 trillion (approximately EUR 5.1 trillion), to marine conservation and restoration could restore millions of square kilometres of marine ecosystems, a new international study has found.
The scientists who conducted the study have urged governments to mandate, through licensing conditions or non-price criteria in tendering, that a fixed percentage of project investments be allocated to marine biodiversity.
Conducted by a team of international scientists led by The Rich North Sea programme and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the study underlines that key global nature preservation and restoration goals, including the UN target to restore 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems by 2030, are slipping out of reach due to a lack of funding and political will.
With offshore wind already having nature enhancement projects, and a few tenders already bringing forward integrated nature-inclusive offshore wind projects, the authors point out that the sector is well-positioned to be the frontrunner in mitigating climate change while rebuilding marine life on a large scale.
“Offshore wind has a unique opportunity to not only support the energy transition but also become the first marine industry to make a real nature-positive contribution to large-scale ecosystem restoration”, said lead author of the study, Christiaan van Sluis from The Rich North Sea programme.
Van Sluis added that biodiversity loss could be reversed with just a fraction of the total investment if smart biodiversity requirements were embedded in offshore wind licensing and tendering procedures now.
In the study, the authors argue that governments rarely mandate investments in achieving broader marine biodiversity goals, despite offshore wind licensing fees and non-financial bidding criteria being part of the site/project allocation procedures.
“An exception is the Dutch nature-inclusive tender Hollandse Kust West site VI, which required OWF consortia to contribute, although only within the OWF area. Embedding licensing conditions that link OWFs to a timely, ambitious, and balanced mix of passive and active restoration measures in and outside OWFs could boost marine life restoration through large, square-kilometer-scale projects. This approach would tackle the climate and biodiversity crises simultaneously, ensuring marine restoration keeps pace with renewable energy expansion”, the study reads.
The authors note that the Netherlands, Denmark, and the UK already have centralised tendering systems that are well-suited to include biodiversity criteria.
“An internationally coordinated and legally embedded approach would enable economies of scale, fair competition, and prevent marine ecosystems from falling victim to price-driven decision making”, The Rich North Sea said in a press release on 7 July.
“Including non-price criteria in tenders has worked well in several Dutch projects. The time is right to scale up marine restoration in the global rollout of offshore wind”, said Karen Vennik, Commercial Director Offshore Energy and Ocean Health at Van Oord, the company contracted to build the Ecowende offshore wind farm.
According to the study, the centralised tendering and leasing systems are also a good setup to facilitate commitment from both the governments and the developers to finance and implement marine restoration projects.
The authors explored the Dutch, Danish, and British tendering, licensing, and leasing procedures and found that reserving from 1 to 5 per cent of offshore wind investments for nature restoration through these countries’ offshore wind schemes was feasible.
“This can be achieved by redistributing funds from financial bids, incorporating tendering criteria, or channeling contributions via OWF leasing fees in centralized licensing processes. Nature-inclusive designs can also be funded by operators by integrating these requirements into site decisions”, the study states.
“A higher percentage could compete with other nonprice criteria, potentially conflicting with other sustainability goals. Therefore, marine restoration investments can stem from a balanced mix of governmental funds, blue and green bonds, private operator funds, and cost reductions related to a centralized approach.”
