Abstract
This review aims to explore the positive and negative impacts arising from the UK offshore wind industry in terms of well-being. The emphasis is placed on objective measures of wellbeing relating to material living conditions, such as personal income and jobs, and issues relating to quality of life, such as health (OECD 2011). Drawing on both peer reviewed and grey literature, actual impacts of the offshore wind industry are reported, although anticipated future impacts are noted where relevant. As there is no established baseline against which change can be measured, in most cases only a qualitative assessment of the direction of change is possible; where quantitative information is available this is also reported. The framework developed for use in this review combines the five capitals model (Forum for the Future, 1990) and an ecosystem service approach (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003) with the Office for National Statistics well-being domains. The five capitals included are: financial, manufactured, human, social and natural capital. Governance is added as a structure in which decisions about the five capitals are made, but it is also an important driver of well-being. Natural capital is subdivided into provisioning, regulating and supporting, and cultural ecosystem services. The well-being domains included are: economy, what we do, where we live, personal well-being, education and skills, personal finance, health, our relationships, the natural environment and governance. How these capital stocks affect well-being is unclear but it is assumed that each of the well-being domains is impacted by changes in capital and that the relationship is positive, i.e. an increase (decrease) in capital will increase (decrease) well-being. The key findings from this assessment are summarised in the table below.