Assessing the cumulative environmental effects of marine renewable energy developments: Establishing common ground.
Assessing the cumulative environmental effects of marine renewable energy developments: Establishing common ground.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.152
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发表时间：
2017-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
E. Willsteed;A. Gill;S. Birchenough;S. Jude
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
E. Willsteed;A. Gill;S. Birchenough;S. Jude
评估和管理人类活动对环境的累积影响仍然是可持续发展面临的一项重大挑战。这一挑战的突出表现是，全世界在已经受到多种活动和气候变化影响的地区扩大海洋可再生能源开发。累积效应评估在理论上为决策者提供了关于环境将如何对许可活动的递增效应作出反应的充分信息，并且在许多国家是一项法律的要求。然而，在实践中，这种评估受到不确定性的困扰，导致许可过程中的重大延误，降低了MRED投资者的信心，并限制了实现气候变化目标的进展。鉴于这些目标和可持续管理海洋环境的雄心，减少围绕MRED效应和累积效应评估的不确定性是及时和至关重要的。本文综述了累积效应评估的起源和演变，以确定为什么会出现多种方法和相关研究，并讨论了与评估MREDs和其他活动对生态系统的累积效应相关的关键考虑因素和挑战。审查建议改变目前依赖不同的环境影响评估和有限的战略环境评估的做法，转而建立一个关于具有生态意义的领域的协调数据和研究的共同系统，重点关注负责保护和养护海洋生态系统和服务的决策者的需求。
Assessing and managing the cumulative impacts of human activities on the environment remains a major challenge to sustainable development. This challenge is highlighted by the worldwide expansion of marine renewable energy developments (MREDs) in areas already subject to multiple activities and climate change. Cumulative effects assessments in theory provide decision makers with adequate information about how the environment will respond to the incremental effects of licensed activities and are a legal requirement in many nations. In practise, however, such assessments are beset by uncertainties resulting in substantial delays during the licensing process that reduce MRED investor confidence and limit progress towards meeting climate change targets. In light of these targets and ambitions to manage the marine environment sustainably, reducing the uncertainty surrounding MRED effects and cumulative effects assessment are timely and vital. This review investigates the origins and evolution of cumulative effects assessment to identify why the multitude of approaches and pertinent research have emerged, and discusses key considerations and challenges relevant to assessing the cumulative effects of MREDs and other activities on ecosystems. The review recommends a shift away from the current reliance on disparate environmental impact assessments and limited strategic environmental assessments, and a move towards establishing a common system of coordinated data and research relative to ecologically meaningful areas, focussed on the needs of decision makers tasked with protecting and conserving marine ecosystems and services.