Closing the Loop: Integrating evidence in Offshore Wind Environmental Assessment

BioSS led the project Closing the Loop: Feasibility study to determine a feedback approach for post-consent monitoring to reduce consenting risk in future assessments to explore how post-consent monitoring (PCM) data from offshore wind farms can be better used to reduce uncertainty in cumulative and future project-based environmental impact assessments. Using seabirds and marine mammals as case studies, the project proposed a set of recommendations and roadmap to integrate PCM data back into the consenting process.

The expansion of offshore wind energy in the UK is central to achieving Net Zero targets, yet the consenting process to build wind farm developments has significant bottlenecks within it. One key challenge lies in the underutilisation of post-consent monitoring (PCM) data, collected by developers as part of licensing conditions, to inform cumulative and future project-based environmental impact assessments (EIAs). 

Background and rationale

Currently, there is no formal mechanism to feed PCM data back into the assessment and decision-making processes for offshore wind developments. This results in valuable empirical data being underused, limiting its potential to reduce uncertainty in cumulative and project-specific EIAs. The project focused on seabirds and marine mammals as receptor groups to explore practical pathways to address the gap. 

A group of wind turbines in the water</p> <p>AI-generated content may be incorrect.

 Photo credit: Adam Butler. Floating offshore wind farm Eoliennes Flottantes du Golfe du Lion (EFGL), one of the excursions at the Conference for Wildlife and Wind (CWW 2025).

One overarching problem, multiple lenses to solve it

The project adopted a pluralistic, transdisciplinary research design, recognising the complexity of the problem and the diversity of stakeholder perspectives. Mixed methods were employed, including:

  • Review of policy, process, and data availability
  • Qualitative interviews with stakeholders across industry, academia, and government
  • Review of types of data currently collected and current assessment tools
  • Interactive app to allow stakeholders to explore how pre- and consent monitoring data can be used to inform decision-making
  • Three rounds of stakeholder engagement, culminating in a final workshop to co-develop recommendations

This approach enabled the team to identify barriers and opportunities across policy, process, data infrastructure, and scientific practice.

 

Evidence Bridges: A case study for marine mammals

SMRU Consulting led an ‘evidence bridges’ approach which was applied to marine mammals to develop and demonstrate a swift, transparent and auditable mechanism to facilitate evidence transfer and uptake. It offers a scalable framework that could be used for other receptor groups.

🔗 Learn more: Evidence bridges - Marine mammal case study

Key findings and recommendations

This project sets out 10 high-level recommendations to improve use of PCM and reduce consenting risk.

  1. Improve communication and coordination within and between organisations to benefit the sector
  2. Stakeholders across the industry establish greater clarity on governance and responsibility of post-consent monitoring data and reporting requirements
  3. Continue to improve and invest in data management frameworks, communicating this facility to stakeholders
  4. Develop FAIR data and data standards for PCM, working with developers to achieve this
  5. Develop best practice, industry standards or/and codes of conduct, producing guidance for technologies and methodologies in a timely manner
  6. Facilitate dissemination and translation of data into guidance through improved governance and better communication to stakeholders
  7. Invest in additional resources across the sector
  8. Continue to invest in research and regional level monitoring to answer key questions around identified evidence gaps, moving the knowledge base forward
  9. Moving to a strategic monitoring approach to PCM is a long-term solution
  10. Use an evidence bridges approach as a mechanism for evaluating evidence into guidance

 Roadmap to Closing the Loop

A close-up of a computer screen</p> <p>AI-generated content may be incorrect.

Conclusion

The Closing the Loop project provides a scientifically grounded, stakeholder-informed framework for improving the use of PCM data in offshore wind consenting. Embedding adaptive management principles, the sector can move towards implementing PCM data back into the assessment process, reducing consenting risk.

Further reading

Further information on Closing the Loop and project's reports can be found: https://www.carbontrust.com/our-work-and-impact/guides-reports-and-tools/orjip-closing-the-loop

Impact

Scientific Thought with solid fill

Cormac Booth (SMRU Consulting): "This was a really interesting project working with  Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) and the Sea Mammal Research Unit developing  Evidence Bridges. We've developed a reproducible process that could work across many domains (e.g. marine mammals, birds, benthic ecology etc.) to help assess the current state of evidence on a given topic." 

Lighthouse scene with solid fill

 Esther Jones has recently presented the Closing the Loop project in invited sessions at CWW  2025 in Montpellier, France, and the ORJIP Stage 2 event in York. 

 

Esther Jones

Project consortium

The project Closing the Loop: Feasibility study to determine a feedback approach for post-consent monitoring to reduce consenting risk in future assessments was led by BioSS with project partners of SEGS at the James Hutton Institute, ABPMer, UKCEH, University of St Andrews CREEM,  SMRU Consulting, and SEFARI Gateway and funded by the Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme (ORJIP) and managed by The Carbon Trust

Contact

For further details and media enquiries, please contact Dr. Esther Jones