Our business model is to develop, construct, operate, and own renewable assets, and we are committed to doing this in an environmentally and socially sustainable way. However, we recognise that expanding our operations also implies a greater pressure on natural ecosystems. Therefore, protecting and restoring these ecosystems must be part of the solution, and we remain fully committed to effectively manage our impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. Biodiversity management is an integral part of our business model and decision-making processes throughout the full life cycle of our projects. This ranges from early-stage site selection and planning, over project design, construction, operations, and eventually to decommissioning.

During the project development phase of all our offshore and onshore assets where we are responsible for development, we conduct early risk screenings and develop environmental impact assessments (EIAs) or equivalent plans to assess the potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems at the locations of potential new assets. This is then followed by the legally required impact assessment processes, providing data on the biodiversity and ecosystems present at the site location. Based on these findings, we can develop action plans to mitigate our impacts and outline restoration measures. Insights from the early risk screenings inform the biodiversity and ecosystem-related impacts, risks, dependencies, and opportunities identified and assessed in the DMA for sites in our own operations. This process highlights the importance of early assessments at the beginning of each of our projects to avoid and mitigate potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.