SR Response: Scottish Marine Recovery Fund Consultation

SR has submitted a response to the Scottish Government Scottish Marine Recovery Fund (MRF) consultation.

The consultation was seeking views on proposals for establishing a Scottish Marine Recovery Fund and how it would be operated and managed.

SR raised the following points on behalf of members:

• Members support the proposal to establish a Scottish Marine Recovery Fund to fulfil environmental compensation requirements for offshore wind projects whose construction would result in adverse impacts on the features of protected sites in Scotland.
• We highlighted the urgency of implementation of the Scottish MRF, noting that members consider the timely establishment of a Scottish MRF essential to provide confidence in the deliverability of required compensation measures and to enable the deployment of Scotland's offshore wind pipeline.
• We emphasised the importance of alignment between the UK MRF and the Scottish MRF, as a consistent approach across jurisdictions will provide clarity for developers operating across different parts of the UK. However, we noted that the exact mechanisms of interaction between the two Funds remain unclear and called for clear guidelines over how they will manage overlapping responsibilities and how they will account for projects with cross-border impacts.

If you have any questions, please contact Alice (atirbooman@scottishrenewables.com).