On Monday 6th June, the Energy Ministers of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden and Norway signed a “Political Declaration on Energy Cooperation between the North Seas Countries”. The UK was notably absent from the declaration signing, which we understand is due to statutory restrictions on government activity in the UK in the run-up to the EU referendum on 23 June. However, the initiative remains open to the participation of all countries with an interest in the North Sea. As a member of the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) we welcome the initiative, and urge the UK government to sign the declaration at the soonest opportunity.
In 2008, the UK Government set a target to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (relative to 1990 levels) by 2050. We consider it imperative that we meet this target in order to mitigate the impact of climate change on wildlife. Our recent report The RSPB’s 2050 Energy Vision: Meeting the UK’s climate targets in harmony with nature shows that there is vast potential for development of marine energy in deeper water around the UK and that it could contribute significantly to us meeting our target. But for this to happen, big strides forward are needed. In our report we call for the UK government to invest in innovation to unlock low carbon technologies such as floating offshore wind. At the same time, we call for increased understanding of our marine wildlife to ensure deployment, including development of grid infrastructure, is truly sustainable - in harmony with nature as well as contributing to carbon reductions.
The objective of the political declaration is “to facilitate the further cost-effective deployment of offshore renewable energy, in particular wind...with the aim of ensuring a sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply in the North Seas countries”. Time and again, across numerous environmental issues, we have seen that cooperation between countries brings the greatest gain for all. The UK’s involvement in this initiative would be extremely valuable for successfully maximising the potential of offshore renewables for the UK whilst ensuring minimum environmental impact throughout the North Sea.
Having published our 2050 Energy Vision to stimulate much needed discussion and action, we are pleased to see that the political declaration recognises the importance of keeping an open dialogue with all stakeholders. We hope that the UK will engage with the initiative and that we will be able to take part in a strong and constructive involvement of civil society in the development and implementation of the initiative’s work programme. Together we can encourage deployment of renewable electricity for the benefit of future wildlife, whilst protecting the rich biodiversity of the North Sea.
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