Toward sustainable outcomes for offshore wind and biodiversity in the digital era: Principles for collaborative digital ecosystem-based governance

Digital tools are mushrooming in the renewable energy sector, as a solution for ecological monitoring and as a tool for implementing biodiversity-positive solutions. Despite high expectations for positive impact in sectors such as offshore wind, there has been little consideration of how digitalization shapes biodiversity governance. We argue that realizing the potential of emerging digital technologies for ecological sustainability in the offshore wind sector will require a critical reflection about the assumptions and limitations of digital biodiversity governance approaches. Drawing on literature and examples of digital tools, we argue that the current governance approaches falls short of what's needed to tackle the ecological impacts of offshore wind. Our perspective proposes four guiding principles for a more collaborative, ecosystem-based way forward. Following these principles could help to realize digital technologies' promise of sustainable outcomes in the offshore wind sector and in other sectors facing trade-offs between rapid development and ecological impact.