The Offshore Wind Evidence and Knowledge Hub (OWEKH), created through the Offshore Wind Evidence & Change (OWEC) Programme, brings together government, regulators, industry and technical experts to improve how evidence is developed and applied. OWEKH published the first
Evidence Review Note on Environmental Impact Assessment, signalling a major step toward more consistent, evidence-led and proportionate regulation in the offshore wind sector. Drawing on insights from 79 UK offshore wind EIAs and nearly two decades of experience, the Note builds on earlier work from the Industry Evidence Programme, a collaboration between ISEP and The Crown Estate that helped establish much of today’s environmental evidence base.
Diagnosing long-standing challenges
The Note sets out persistent weaknesses in the current EIA process: inconsistent scoping, varied terminology and reporting, structural complexity that can obscure findings, and a widening gap between strategic assessments and project-level decision-making. The Note also highlights limited tracking of mitigation and post-consent commitments and inconsistent treatment of beneficial effects and sector learning. For researchers, this diagnosis clarifies where analytical approaches, datasets and methods are not meeting regulatory needs—and where new research could make the biggest difference.
A clearer, more proportionate approach
In response, the ERN proposes a framework to make EIAs more focused and transparent. It calls for greater consistency in scoping and reporting, better integration of digital tools, and a more structured UK-wide approach to identifying which effects genuinely require detailed assessment. At its core is the principle that proportionate regulation means directing effort and evidence to where they meaningfully influence decisions. For academics working on impact assessment, monitoring, modelling or digital tools, the guidance effectively sets out a research agenda aligned with regulatory priorities. As Dr Rufus Howard of ISEP notes, the Note demonstrates what is possible when practitioners, regulators and industry work together to improve quality and reduce duplication.
Collaboration as the foundation for better evidence
The Note repeatedly emphasises the need to close shared evidence gaps and improve the circulation of data and learning across the sector. Rather than treating each EIA as an isolated exercise, OWEKH encourages a more collective evidence culture, —one that recognises environmental assessment as part of a broader system supporting both nature recovery and offshore wind deployment. This shift has clear implications for researchers who play a central role in generating new knowledge, improving methods and ensuring that insights are transferable across projects and regions.
Looking ahead: a developing evidence framework
OWEKH has already indicated that further topic-specific Evidence Review Notes are in development. Together, these Notes aim to build a more coherent and strategically aligned evidence framework at a time when offshore wind deployment is expanding and environmental pressures are intensifying. For the academic community, this represents both clarity and opportunity: a clearer sense of what evidence regulators and industry need, and an invitation to help shape a more robust and proportionate assessment system. This first publication offers a practical, collaborative and forward-looking route toward improved environmental decision-making in support of the UK’s net-zero transition.