Maritime spatial planning: requirements of climate protection adequately taken into account
The hearing of the federal states and associations on the draft ordinance on spatial planning in the German exclusive economic zone in the North and Baltic Seas ends today. The BWO eV has again with a Stellungnahme involved in the process.
"We very much welcome the fact that the BSH's draft plan for the first time recognizes and records the outstanding importance of wind energy at sea in achieving national, European and global climate protection goals," says BWO Managing Director Stefan Thimm. “All in all, we rate the changes made as very positive, because if there were conflicting goals between all types of use, we were carefully weighed up and the requirements of climate protection were adequately taken care of. In particular, we are delighted with the proposal to share areas by wind energy at sea with fisheries research. Here we see that, despite the limited space in the German EEZ, there is still untapped potential, ”Thimm continues.
However, in view of the increased climate targets, the offshore industry will have to make an even greater contribution to the decarbonization of our economy. "In order for climate neutrality to be successful by 2045, further co-use options must be considered as soon as possible," warns Thimm. Because, for example, the recently published study by the think tank AGORA Energiewende and the Climate Neutrality Foundation "Climate-neutral Germany by 2045“Prove that the climate goals can only be achieved with large additional amounts of green electricity from the North and Baltic Seas.
Hintergrund:
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has been updating maritime spatial planning on behalf of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Home Affairs (BMI) since September 2020. The spatial plan defines the use of the areas for the various types of use at the higher-level planning level. After the evaluation of the national and international statements by the BSH, the updated spatial planning plan will come into force in this legislative period in September by ordinance of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The BWO had already participated in the first round of consultations in October 2020 with a statement.