Governance of the North Sea as a common pool resource: an empirical Dutch perspecitive

Abstract

Transitioning to renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind energy, is crucial for mitigating global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The North Sea has a significant potential for offshore wind energy, making it key in the energy transition of its bordering countries. However, implementing this renewable energy presents challenges, particularly regarding required changes to marine spatial planning (MSP), which impacts both the ecological system and existing social structures, and the integration into the existing energy grid. The current governance of the area is complex and fragmented. A collective action approach might help prevent ecological resource depletion and realize a more efficient energy system. The Netherlands, positioned centrally in the North Sea with a substantial offshore area, serves as the focal point for this study, which aims to explore how conditions in the North Sea could facilitate collective action for energy resource governance from a Dutch perspective.The research and data are structured using the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. The action situation shows different levels of governance: EU, North Sea, National, and Local. The governance is split between MSP and the energy system, both impacting the offshore wind farm development. The exogenous variables show the current environmental, technical, social, and rules context affecting the action situation. Evaluation criteria and current outcomes are also researched. The research identified the following conditions that impact the opportunities for collective action on the North Sea energy resources: collaboration on a North Sea level, complex cost-benefit allocation,monitoring of resources, and a positive attitude towards collaboration. In this context, collaboration on the North Sea level, through NSEC and GNSBI, facilitates collective action; however, since both are relatively new platforms, the impact on collective action is still unknown. Complex cost-benefit allocation challenges collective action, as can be seen by the difficult involvement of fishers in the North Sea Accord. Complex monitoring of ecological resources complicates collective action since it challenges the total impact of offshore wind. Thus, adaptive rules should be in place to account for new emerging knowledge impacting the action situation. Lastly, a positive attitude towards collaboration provides an opportunity for collective action. The interviews show that stakeholders are willing to cooperate. However, to reach tangible results instead of merely a list of desires, stakeholders need to contribute to the collective goals instead of defending their own needs, and though decisions need to be made instead of just going over easy tasks.