Hengstmann et al. Environmental Sciences Europe (2026) 38:20 
in the North Sea regardless of the point (country) of 
entry. Coordination across national borders, e.g. on sea 
basin level, could help protect the marine environment 
in a more integrated way. At the same time, a sea basin 
(or European) wide coordination regarding minimum 
requirements for chemical emissions from OWFs must 
consider a wide audience, involving stakeholders, pol- 
icy makers, authorities, scientists and society. A strong 
involvement of the different stakeholders is necessary to 
implement the first steps with respect to more detailed 
and overarching regulations for chemical emissions from 
OWFs. 
Thus, carefully coordinating rules for chemical emis- 
sions on a transnational level is essential for more effec- 
tive protection of the marine environment and to provide 
clear guidelines for operators. 
Final remarks 
We seek our evaluation and recommendations for 
extending knowledge and for specifying, regularly 
reviewing and harmonizing regulation on chemical 
emissions from OWFs, will contribute to improved pro- 
tection of the marine environment. A minimization of 
emissions from OWFs will also serve the goals of trans- 
national frameworks like the WFD or MSFD which aim 
to achieve a good environmental status of the marine 
environment. According to the Pollution Action plan of 
the EU, the final policy goal would be a “zero-pollution” 
scenario, which does not literally imply a zero emission of 
chemicals but their reduction to such an extent that there 
are no effects on the marine environment. Furthermore, 
the EU blue growth strategy was introduced in 2021 to 
ensure the parallel development of marine economy 
sectors as well as marine conservation. Therefore, the 
recommendations made in this policy brief are in line 
with European initiatives and underline the necessity of 
transnational cooperation, which has become even more 
important in the last decades, to increase the protection 
of our oceans while supporting the sustainable develop- 
ment of offshore energy supply. 
Abbreviations 
BAT Best Available Techniques 
=EA zuropean Economic Area 
ZU zuropean Union 
GACP Galvanic anode cathodic protection 
GW Gigawatt 
ICCP mpressed current cathodic protection 
IMO nternational Maritime Organizatior 
MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive 
OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the 
North-East Atlantic 
Iffshore wind farms 
Supplementary Information 
Jnited Kingdom 
Jnited States 
Water Framework Directive 
7nf9 
Pag2 
Supplementary Information 
The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. 
org/10.1186/s12302-026-01329-4 
z— 
Supplementary material 1 
Supplementary material 2 
Acknowledgements 
"he authors thank contacted national authorities for providing information for 
ur analysis. Special appreciation goes to our project partners and stakehold 
ars whose input was essential to the development of this policy brief. We 
are especially grateful to Birit Buhr and other colleagues for reviewing the 
manuscript prior to submission and offering valuable feedback. The views 
axpressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the 
ndividuals or organizations acknowledged. 
Author contributions 
EH conceptualized the study, conducted the literature and online research, 
arocessed and analysed data, drafted the manuscript, substantively revised 
t and generated visualisations. MH conducted the literature and online 
esearch, processed and analysed data and drafted the manuscript. AP was 
nvolved in literature research, processed and analysed data and substantially 
evised the manuscript. BDW acquired funding, conceptualized and super- 
/ised the study, analysed data and substantively revised the manuscript. KDC 
as involved in literature research, analysed data and substantively revised 
:he manuscript. TB analysed data and substantively revised the manuscript 
XV analysed data and substantively revised the manuscript. DJD analysed 
data and revised the manuscript. |W was involved in literature research and 
‚ubstantively revised the manuscript. SH acquired funding, conceptualized 
‘he study and substantively revised the manuscript. All authors read and 
approved the final manuscript. 
Funding 
Ipen Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This study was 
2erformed as part of the project Anemoi (Project number 41-2-13-22), an 
nterreg North Sea project co-funded by the European Union. 
Data availability 
Datasets generated during this study and supporting the conclusions are 
ıCluded in this published article and its additional files. 
Declarations 
Ethics approval and consent to participate 
Not applicable. 
Consent for publication 
Not applicable. 
Competing interests 
The authors declare no competing interests 
Received: 16 October 2025 Accepted: 4 January 2026 
Published online: 21 January 2026 
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