with

Ben Houchen
Mayor of Tees Valley

Melanie Onn
Deputy Chief Executive, RenewableUK

Nicola Shaw CBE
UK Executive Director, National Grid

Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP 
Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, BEIS

Chaired by

Benedict McAleenan
Senior Adviser, Energy and Environment, Policy Exchange

The North Sea offers opportunities to decarbonise the UK economy while generating economic benefits for the regions that border it. It’s future development is therefore strategically central to delivering two of the Government’s flagship agendas: Net Zero, and Levelling Up.

Policy Exchange examined these issues in its recent report, The Future of the North Sea. The report found that the basin could generate up to £20bn per year of investment in coastal regions and a net increase of up to 40,000 direct jobs connected to its energy industry.

However, questions remain as to how these benefits can be realised: How can the growing risk of spatial conflicts be mitigated? In what ways can the environmental impacts of development be minimised? How can policy enable North Sea coastal regions to benefit from the low-carbon transition? Does the UK need a more strategic approach for engaging countries it shares the North Sea with?