ABSTRACT
In many parts of the world, extensive areas of the marine environment critical for the long-term conservation of biodiversity are already impacted negatively by existing or leased-for-future offshore oil and gas extraction and the generation of renewable energy. Many of these areas are either under the jurisdiction of countries with limited ability and/or motivation to monitor and control industrial activities sustainably, or they are within international waters. To many in the conservation community, the ubiquity and massive political power of the offshore energy industry can make the idea of working collaboratively with them to forge shared solutions seem intimidating, antithetical, and possibly futile. One thing is irrefutable though—environmental risks are ‘common ground’. Environmental risks in the eyes of conservationists are operational and financial risks to industry. As much as conservationists do not want sensitive habitats or species disrupted, industry at least fears the loss of the ‘social license to operate’, and delays or full operation stoppages due to the discovery of an unknown or unidentified environmental sensitivity. Forward-thinking industrialists recognise that money invested upfront to limit environmental damage and engage stakeholders proactively and transparently, which are often conservation goals, can translate ultimately into net financial gains. Thus, although the motivations for achieving those outcomes—conservation, in one instance, and profit, in the other—are different, there can be shared goals that result in positive outcomes for conservation and for business.
