New university partnership explores how critical maritime infrastructures can be protected
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A new university research partnership will explore how critical maritime infrastructures can be protected to tackle environmental issues and ensure the movement from a carbon-based economy to a more sustainable one, otherwise known as the ‘green transition’.
The Centre for Security Research at the University of Edinburgh and the Centre for Advanced Security Theory at the University of Copenhagen are leading the research on substantial investments in offshore energy infrastructures, underwater cable connections for power and communications, green hydrogen production from the sea, and carbon storage facilities. These are all vital for the green transition. The research will investigate the strategic and security implications of these investments, and ask how these critical maritime infrastructures can be better protected.
The partnership is led at Edinburgh by Professor Andrew Neal, Personal Chair of International Security (from 1 August 2023) at the School of Social and Political Science, and at Copenhagen by Professor Christian Bueger. Its initial focus will be on the Greater North Sea region, where a boom of green infrastructures is occurring. With seed funding from the Edinburgh–Copenhagen Strategic Partnership initiative, the research team will conduct explorative research on critical maritime infrastructure protection and prepare a joint research agenda in close engagement with key stakeholders in government and industry.
The partnership plans to engage stakeholders including from the EU, NATO, governmental agencies of the North Sea states, and the windfarm, hydrogen, subsea cable, and shipping industries. Stakeholder workshops will facilitate the development of policy options and the identification of priority research questions.
Professor Neal said: “Two of the leading North Sea universities in the field of security studies are working together in this partnership to ensure that decarbonisation strategies are not only understood in economic terms, but that the security implications are considered. For Denmark, Scotland and the wider United Kingdom there is much at stake. To meet emission reduction targets, we need the green energy of the North Sea. Opportunities for growth and employment depend on it.”