The first Earth day took place on the 22nd of April 1970 and is celebrated annually by people all over the world. The official theme for 2022 is “Invest In Our Planet”, which we at The Crown Estate think is especially fitting, as The Crown Estate facilitates green investment in offshore renewable energy through the strategic leasing of offshore sites, in a bid to support the UK in reaching its Net Zero targets.

As part of goals set out within the UK’s Net Zero Strategy, the UK government has set a target of achieving 40GW of offshore wind by 2030. The Crown Estate are proud to have created opportunity for at least 7GW of new offshore wind projects in UK waters by the end of the decade, as part of the Offshore Wind Leasing Round 4, which is enough to power more than 6 million homes! We also have ambitious plans for floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea and hope to unlock up to 4GW of new clean energy capacity in England and Wales. We hope by taking action against climate change, we encourage others to look towards greener solutions to save our planet.

As manager of the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we also know that the sustainable growth of the offshore wind sector needs to be done in a way which is both sensitive to biodiversity in our precious marine environment and in balance with the wide range of interests from other seabed users. That is why this Earth Day we are also proud to celebrate our Offshore Wind Evidence and Change programme, which aims to address biodiversity challenges and overcome the cumulative environmental impacts of offshore wind.