Secretary Haaland Issues Global Offshore Wind Challenge at U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties

Date: Thursday, November 4, 2021
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

GLASGOW — In her first event of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland highlighted the ongoing work in the United States to deliver on President Biden’s commitment to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030. She also issued a global challenge for every applicable country to join in setting ambitious domestic offshore wind energy commitments.

“Climate change doesn’t recognize territorial or political boundaries. It’s a global problem that requires a global effort to address it,” said Secretary Haaland. “We are in an exciting time – and the Biden-Harris administration is taking bold action to advance clean energy to make people’s lives better and build a more sustainable future. Together, we need to set ambitious goals and commit the resources to get it done.”

Secretary Haaland was joined by representatives of the Kingdom of Denmark, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and other international colleagues to showcase U.S. and international commitments to accelerate offshore wind development to create jobs and reduce carbon emissions.

Secretary Haaland’s challenge builds off the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing commitment to catalyze offshore wind energy, strengthen domestic supply chains, and create good-paying jobs. In March of this year, the White House announced a bold target to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, which could create nearly 80,000 good-paying jobs in the United States.  

Since then, the Interior Department reached a historic milestone with the approval of the first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States, located offshore of Massachusetts, and just last month outlined a path forward that includes up to seven new offshore wind lease sales in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico by 2025. Progress on three of those areas was announced just last week.

The Interior Department is now working to complete the review of at least 16 Construction and Operations Plans for offshore wind facilities by 2025, which together represent more than 19 GW of clean energy. The Department is also preparing for potential lease sales in the New York Bight and offshore the Carolinas and California next year, and is actively working with states, Tribes, and stakeholders to explore potential wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Oregon and Hawaii.

Archives of the live-streamed events are available at the U.S. Center’s YouTube webpage.

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