3.1 Avoid and reduce impacts of direct operations on nature; restore and compensate for unavoidable residual impacts in accordance with the mitigation hierarchy Many offshore wind companies already have biodiversity assessments in place for all current projects and have committed to the mitigation hierarchy principles of avoiding, reducing, restoring, and – if all avoidance and mitigation measures have been employed – offsetting or compensating for negative impacts on nature. Companies should follow the mitigation hierarchy sequentially at the site level, in a landscape context, considering direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. Mitigation efforts should align with an NNL or NPI goal for each project (see Box 3).117 Principles for applying the mitigation hierarchy BOX 3 The mitigation hierarchy is a four-step decision- making framework designed to support the mitigation of nature impacts. To improve the application of the mitigation hierarchy, The Nature Conservancy identified six principles to guide its application:118 –Landscape context: Apply the mitigation hierarchy in a landscape context, considering direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. –Goal: Mitigation policy goals at the national, regional and/or local level should ensure the mitigation hierarchy is applied to support conservation objectives and drive accountability for application. As of 2016, over 100 countries had or were developing national mitigation policies that require offsets or enable the use of offsets.119 –Mitigation hierarchy steps: The steps should be followed sequentially – avoid, reduce, restore and then compensate for impacts. –Limits to offsets:120 There are limits to what can be offset, and impacts that cannot be offset should be avoided as this may be the only means to prevent irreplaceable loss. –Sustainable outcomes: Mitigation should support long-term, durable outcomes. –Stakeholder engagement practices: Mitigation should follow best practices for stakeholder engagement, guided by the following principles for meaningful and inclusive stakeholder engagement – inclusiveness, transparency, rights-based approaches, and science and traditional knowledge. Priority action 1 29 Nature Positive: Role of the Offshore Wind Sector

Nature Positive Role of the Offshore Wind Sector