Obligations and aspirations: A critical evaluation of offshore wind farm cumulative impact assessments

Willsteed, Edward; Jude, Simon; Gill, Andrew B.; Birchenough, Silvana N.R.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.08.079

Cited by 55 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Managing cumulative effects requires analyses of the multitude of effects acting on resources and ecosystems at different scales. Coherence thus implies systemic consistency between CEAs focussed on different scales of assessment and variables within a system, but this consistency is often not found in practice [20].…”

Section: Specifying Coherence For Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The resilience concept integrates consideration of spatial and temporal dynamics of social-ecological systems, encouraging movement away from the shifting baseline phenomenon that affects many environmental assessments [36], including formal CEAs [20]. Change in resilience is a compelling conceptual metric for CEA, but application remains vague [33].…”

Section: Changing Resilience As a Measure For Cumulative Effects Assementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Guiding principles (tier five and discussed in section 5) provide practical assistance for practitioners and marine regulators, and are intended to support the elaboration of specific CEA approaches that can be applied to, for example, project-level CEAs to better account for characteristics of social-ecological systems and cumulative effects, and where shortcomings continue to be identified (e.g. [20,45]).…”

Section: A General Perspective Of Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The intention here is to set out a series of steps that individually and collectively can be investigated, adapted and formalised to support the development of future guidelines for practitioners and regulators. This would allow practitioners and regulators to address project-level CEA shortcomings relative to ecosystem approach, an area where progress is necessary [20]. Figure 6.…”

Section: A Candidate Approach To Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structuring cumulative effects assessments to support regional and local marine management and planning obligations

et al. 2018

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Cumulative effects assessments are a legal requirement in many jurisdictions and are key to informing marine policy. However, practice does not yet deliver fit-for-purpose assessments relative to sustainable development and environmental protection obligations. The complexity of cumulative effect questions, which are embedded in complex social-ecological systems, makes multiple, methodologically diverse assessments a necessity. Using the expansion of marine renewable energy developments in European Union waters as a case study, this paper explores how social-ecological systems thinking and cumulative effects assessment theory can combine to structure CEAs that better support the management and regulation of maritime activities at regional scales. A general perspective for cumulative effects assessment is proposed to remove ambiguity of intent and to orient assessments towards a common objective. Candidate principles for practice are presented for consideration. These principles are integrated into a stepped assessment approach that seeks to improve cumulative effects assessments of localised activities relative to the information needs of decision-makers implementing the ecosystem approach. Highlights• Understanding and managing cumulative effects is fundamental to sustainable development and requires regional coherence between assessments oriented towards resolving a common issue.

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Section: Specifying Coherence For Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Changing Resilience As a Measure For Cumulative Effects Assementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A General Perspective Of Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Candidate Approach To Cumulative Effects Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structuring cumulative effects assessments to support regional and local marine management and planning obligations

et al. 2018

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“…In line with these political imperative, MRE sector is growing significantly to allow the energetic transition. Among these MRE, Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs) has seen consistent growth in capacity and it is by far the most technically advanced of all MRE [2]. However, this OWF development has raised concerns about their potential impacts on ecosystems [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an Ecosystem Approach to Assess the Impacts of Marine Renewable Energy

Pezy¹,

Raoux²,

Niquil³

et al. 2019

Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts

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The French government has since the beginning of the 2000' the ambition that the offshore wind production formed 40% of the renewable electricity in 2030, and three calls tenders of Offshore Wind Farms (OWF) construction have been pronounced since 2011. However, no marine wind farm had been constructed at the end of 2017 due to long administrative procedures and numerous appeals in justice, at French and European levels. Nevertheless, several studies have been enterprise to identify the environmental conditions and ecosystem functioning in selected sites before OWF implantations. However, these studies are generally focused on the conservation of some species or groups of species and there is no holistic study on the effects of the construction and operation of OWF on an ecosystem taken as a whole. In 2017, a complete and integrated view of the ecosystem of two future OWF sites of the eastern English Channel (Courseulles-sur-Mer and Dieppe-Le Tréport) were developed to model the marine ecosystems before OWF implementation and to simulate reef effects due to new spatial occupation of maritime territory. Results contribute to a better knowledge of the impacts of the OWFs on the functioning of marine ecosystems. They also allow to define recommendations for environmental managers and industry in terms of monitoring the effects of Marine Renewable Energy (MRE), not only locally, but also on other sites, at national and European levels.

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