The first roadmap was originally developed to provide our members with a foundation upon which to begin tackling the many environmental challenges that we were facing as an industry. In 2020 the roadmap directly reflected the concerns that industry had, incorporating them with the governments agenda, aims and objectives. The roadmap formed the priorities of British Marine at the time in supporting the development of industry solutions in the six key areas that were highlighted by the survey of our members from both the inland and coastal sectors. With increasing demand for solutions that will not only mitigate environmental impact but allow the development of technology, materials, and design, the roadmap was developed to support growth in our sector on a sustainable level, increasing market share, and ensuring commercial stability in the long term.
Now 4 years after the publication of the first roadmap and as a component part of a greater British Marine environmental strategy we have updated the roadmap to reflect the changes that have occurred within both regulation and the industry during this time. The Environment Act in 2021 fired the starting gun on a whole raft of new rules and regulations, specifically targeted at achieving a generational improvement in our natural environment. These new rules and regulations are coming thick and fast, and will need increasing resources from companies to make sure they are suitable for our industry, reasonable in their implementation and then complied with, at the same time the industry must also be aware of what is on the horizon, the biggest fundamental change to business for generations, moving away from carbon based energy to alternatives.