The MPA Europe team was pleased to participate in the “Strong Winds, Thriving Seas” conference hosted by the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI), Ocean Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN), and WindEurope in Brussels on October 30. The event focused on integrating nature conservation with the expansion of offshore wind energy, aiming to balance offshore wind development with nature conservation in the European political agenda.

This is particularly timely as the expansion of offshore energy needs to be strategically planned alongside increasing Marine Protected Area (MPA) coverage from 12.1% to 30% of Europe’s seas by 2030. These targets align with the Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, emphasizing the need for national and regional planners to design the conservation and sustainable use of our seas strategically, including a just transition for fisheries. To help with this goal, our project provides access to cutting edge knowledge on patterns of marine life and organic carbon sediment stores to support the next iterations of marine plans.

At the conference’s solutions fair, the MPA Europe team showcased our latest results:

• We introduced the first depth-integrated marine ecosystem classification for European seas, highlighting the natural environmental variability across different sea basins and depths.
• We demonstrated our new interactive dashboard that features around 10,000 marine species and habitat distribution models under all five IPCC climate change scenarios up to 2100.
• We presented calculations of wave exposure for all of Europe’s coasts.
• We unveiled a new European organic carbon database, complete with an index and maps showing concentrations of organic carbon in marine sediments.

These standardized data layers have been developed to facilitate systematic conservation planning. They help identify optimal networks of MPAs across Europe’s seas, which will be crucial for supporting the upcoming iterations of marine spatial plans and case studies for the offshore energy sector and other aspects of the blue economy. The comprehensive results will be accessible through an open access online atlas in 2025.

During the conference, OCEaN members advocated for increased regional cooperation involving all relevant stakeholders and civil society. They emphasized strengthening sea-basin forums such as OSPAR, HELCOM, North Seas Energy Cooperation, and the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative. We echo this call, supporting a regional approach to planning coherent networks of marine protected areas alongside offshore clean energy development. This strategy will more effectively secure optimal outcomes for marine protection and a future that benefits both nature and people.

It was insightful to learn about the nature-positive initiatives being trialled by industry participants, and we extend our gratitude to the RGI and OCEaN team for the invitation to participate.