The oceans are increasingly seen as the answer to a myriad of challenges facing humankind. One such challenge relates to balancing the imperative need to mitigate the effects of climate change against the need to ensure energy security – ensuring access to sufficient energy resources at reasonable prices for the foreseeable future and without major disruptions. Energy is indispensable for the socio-economic development of countries and the welfare of their citizens. Meeting the high levels of global energy demand to sustain such development will require continued efforts to develop energy production. However, the levels of energy production and consumption from fossil fuels are also key factors in aggravating pollution and climate change. This has led to increasing pressure to reduce the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the seabed, and to step up the development of offshore renewable energy technology to harvest the energy potential of the sea – as a resource, as with wave, tidal and thermal energy, or as an area for developing other resources, like offshore wind and solar power.