IOGP input to Roadmap consultation ‘Protecting the marine environment – review of EU rules’

This document provides IOGP’s input to the EU public consultation on the Roadmap on the review of the EU rules on protecting the marine environment.

Context

EU countries are required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to develop strategies in order to achieve ‘good environmental status’ and have clean, healthy and productive seas by 2020. This initiative will review the achievements and shortcomings of this Directive, explore options for improvement and propose possible amendments.

Oceans and seas are important areas of operations for the European oil and gas industry, as more than 80% of its current oil and gas production takes place offshore.

To protect the marine environment, all exploration and production activities are conducted according to the highest industry standards and in line with the applicable EU, national, and regional legislation. IOGP also has access to a wealth of technical knowledge and experience with its members operating around the world in many different ocean governance frameworks, supporting goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in particular the Sustainable Development Goal on the Ocean (SDG14 “Life Below Water”).

Key Points

IOGP outlines the following key principles on which the upcoming revision could be based:

• Coherence of measures and methodologies between EU regulations and relevant Regional Sea Conventions, taking also into account regional specifications, is essential
• Economic operations can be compatible with protection measures, including in sensitive environments, provided that good management of practices are implemented
• All actors involved in blue economy initiatives should be considered and consulted throughout the process of reviewing the EU rules on protection of the marine environment
• There is a need to ensure a stable and predictable framework that is necessary for long-term investments
• All measures employed to achieve greater protection of the marine environment must be informed by scientific data and built on scientific methods and criteria
• Industry’s collaboration with scientific institutions is a key contributor to ocean science and should be leveraged for data collection/decision-making processes

• Introduction
• Descriptor 1: Biodiversity is maintained
• Descriptor 8: Concentrations of contaminants give no effects
• Descriptor 11: Underwater Sound