TY - JOUR
T1 - To what extent can decommissioning options for marine artificial structures move us toward environmental targets?
AU - Knights, Antony M.
AU - Lemasson, Anaëlle J.
AU - Firth, Louise B.
AU - Beaumont, Nicola
AU - Birchenough, Silvana
AU - Claisse, Jeremy
AU - Coolen, Joop W. P.
AU - Copping, Andrea
AU - De Dominicis, Michela
AU - Degraer, Steven
AU - Elliott, Michael
AU - Fernandes, Paul G.
AU - Fowler, Ashley M.
AU - Frost, Matthew
AU - Henry, Lea-Anne
AU - Hicks, Natalie
AU - Hyder, Kieran
AU - Jagerroos, Sylvia
AU - Love, Milton
AU - Lynam, Chris
AU - Macreadie, Peter I.
AU - McLean, Dianne
AU - Marlow, Joseph
AU - Mavraki, Ninon
AU - Montagna, Paul A.
AU - Paterson, David M.
AU - Perrow, Martin R.
AU - Porter, Joanne
AU - Bull, Ann Scarborough
AU - Schratzberger, Michaela
AU - Shipley, Brooke
AU - van Elden, Sean
AU - Vanaverbeke, Jan
AU - Want, Andrew
AU - Watson, Stephen C. L.
AU - Wilding, Thomas A.
AU - Somerfield, Paul J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the INSITE programme [INSITE SYNTHESIS project, grant number NE/W009889/1 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2024/1/15
Y1 - 2024/1/15
N2 - Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented. Yet, a paucity of real-world case studies describing the impacts of decommissioning on the environment make decision-making with respect to which option(s) might be optimal for meeting international and regional strategic environmental targets challenging. To address this gap, we draw together international expertise and judgment from marine environmental scientists on marine artificial structures as an alternative source of evidence that explores how different decommissioning options might ameliorate pressures that drive environmental status toward (or away) from environmental objectives. Synthesis reveals that for 37 United Nations and Oslo-Paris Commissions (OSPAR) global and regional environmental targets, experts consider repurposing or abandoning individual structures, or abandoning multiple structures across a region, as the options that would most strongly contribute toward targets. This collective view suggests complete removal may not be best for the environment or society. However, different decommissioning options act in different ways and make variable contributions toward environmental targets, such that policy makers and managers would likely need to prioritise some targets over others considering political, social, economic, and ecological contexts. Current policy may not result in optimal outcomes for the environment or society.
AB - Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented. Yet, a paucity of real-world case studies describing the impacts of decommissioning on the environment make decision-making with respect to which option(s) might be optimal for meeting international and regional strategic environmental targets challenging. To address this gap, we draw together international expertise and judgment from marine environmental scientists on marine artificial structures as an alternative source of evidence that explores how different decommissioning options might ameliorate pressures that drive environmental status toward (or away) from environmental objectives. Synthesis reveals that for 37 United Nations and Oslo-Paris Commissions (OSPAR) global and regional environmental targets, experts consider repurposing or abandoning individual structures, or abandoning multiple structures across a region, as the options that would most strongly contribute toward targets. This collective view suggests complete removal may not be best for the environment or society. However, different decommissioning options act in different ways and make variable contributions toward environmental targets, such that policy makers and managers would likely need to prioritise some targets over others considering political, social, economic, and ecological contexts. Current policy may not result in optimal outcomes for the environment or society.
KW - Artificial structures
KW - Environmental management
KW - Expert judgement
KW - Impact assessment
KW - Offshore wind
KW - Oil and gas platforms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177763107&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119644
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119644
M3 - Article
C2 - 38000275
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 350
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
M1 - 119644
ER -