Renewable energy development threatens many globally important biodiversity areas

Mapping the planet's critical areas for biodiversity and nature's contributions to people

Meeting global commitments to conservation, climate, and sustainable development requires consideration of synergies and tradeoffs among targets. We evaluate the spatial congruence of ecosystems providing globally high levels of nature's contributions to people, biodiversity, and areas with high development potential across several sectors. We find that conserving approximately half of global land area through protection or sustainable management could provide 90% of the current levels of ten of nature's contributions to people and meet minimum representation targets for 26,709 terrestrial vertebrate species. This finding supports recent commitments by national governments under the Global Biodiversity Framework to conserve at least 30% of global lands and waters, and proposals to conserve half of the Earth. More than one-third of areas required for conserving nature's contributions to people and species are also highly suitable for agriculture, renewable energy, oil and gas, mining, or urban expansion. This indicates potential conflicts among conservation, climate and development goals.

Environmental problem shifting from climate change mitigation: A mapping review

Climate change mitigation will trigger major changes in human activity, energy systems, and material use, potentially shifting pressure from climate change to other environmental problems. We provide a comprehensive overview of such "environmental problem shifting" (EPS). While there is considerable research on this issue, studies are scattered across research fields and use a wide range of terms with blurred conceptual boundaries, such as trade-off, side effect, and spillover. We identify 506 relevant studies on EPS of which 311 are empirical, 47 are conceptual-theoretical, and 148 are synthetic studies or reviews of a particular mitigation option. A systematic mapping of the empirical studies reveals 128 distinct shifts from 22 categories of mitigation options to 10 environmental impacts. A comparison with the recent IPCC report indicates that EPS literature does not cover all mitigation options. Moreover, some studies systematically overestimate EPS by not accounting for the environmental benefits of reduced climate change. We propose to conceptually clarify the different ways of estimating EPS by distinguishing between gross, net, and relative shifting. Finally, the ubiquity of EPS calls for policy design which ensures climate change mitigation that minimizes unsustainability across multiple environmental dimensions. To achieve this, policymakers can regulate mitigation options-for example, in their choice of technology or location-and implement complementary environmental policies.

The overlooked threat of land take from wind energy infrastructures: Quantification, drivers and policy gaps

Wind harnessing is a fast-developing and cost-effective Renewable Energy Source, but the land impacts of wind power stations are often overlooked or underestimated. We digitized land take, i.e., the generation of artificial land, derived from 90 wind power stations in Greece constructed between 2002 and 2020 (1.2 GW). We found substantial land take impacts of 7729 m2/MW (3.5 m2/MWh) of new artificial land, 148 m/MW of new roads and 174 m/MW of widened roads on average. Models showed that the number and size of wind turbines, the absence of other existing infrastructures and the elevational difference across new access roads increased artificial land generation. The elevational difference across new and widened access roads also increased their length. New wind power stations in Greece are planned to be installed at higher elevations and in terrains facing higher risks for soil erosion and soil biodiversity. The general tendency in the European Union is to sit fewer wind power stations in mountainous and forested land. Still, this pattern is inversed in several countries, particularly in Southern Europe. After screening 29 policy and legal documents, we found that land take is indirectly inferred in the global policy but more directly in the European policy through five non-legally binding documents and three Directives. However, the current European energy policies seem to conflict with nature conservation policies, risking land take acceleration. The study provides insights for reducing land take when planning and constructing wind power stations. We underline the need for better quantification of land take and its integration in the complex process of sustainable spatial planning of investments.

Solar Energy-driven Land-cover Change Could Alter Landscapes Critical to Animal Movement in the Continental United States

The United States may produce as much as 45% of its electricity using solar energy technology by 2050, which could require more than 40,000 km2 of land to be converted to large-scale solar energy production facilities. Little is known about how such development may impact animal movement. Here, we use five spatially explicit projections of solar energy development through 2050 to assess the extent to which ground-mounted photovoltaic solar energy expansion in the continental United States may impact land-cover and alter areas important for animal movement. Our results suggest that there could be a substantial overlap between solar energy development and land important for animal movement: across projections, 7-17% of total development is expected to occur on land with high value for movement between large protected areas, while 27-33% of total development is expected to occur on land with high value for climate-change-induced migration. We also found substantial variation in the potential overlap of development and land important for movement at the state level. Solar energy development, and the policies that shape it, may align goals for biodiversity and climate change by incorporating the preservation of animal movement as a consideration in the planning process.

Semitransparent Solar Cells Employing n-Type Graphene on LaVO3

To effectively utilize solar energy, semitransparent solar cells are essential in various fields such as building-integrated solar power generation and portable solar chargers. We report triethylenetetramine (TETA)-doped graphene (Gr) transparent conductive electrode (TCE)-based LaVO₃ semitransparent solar cells. To optimize the Gr TCE, we varied the TETA molar concentration (n_D) from 0.1 to 0.3 mM. TETA-doped Gr (TETA-Gr)/LaVO₃ semitransparent solar cells exhibit the highest 1.45% efficiency and 62% average visible transmittance at n_D = 0.2 mM. These results indicate that the TETA-Gr/LaVO₃ structure not only harvests solar energy in the ultraviolet-visible region but also exhibits translucency, thanks to the thin film. Thanks to its translucent properties, we improved the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to 1.99% by adding an Al reflective mirror to the semitransparent cells. Finally, the device's PCE loss is only within 3% for 3000 h in air, suggesting good durability.

A novel fractional discrete grey model with variable weight buffer operator and its applications in renewable energy prediction

With the continuous depletion of global fossil energy, optimizing the energy structure has become the focus of attention of all countries. With the support of policy and finance, renewable energy occupies an important position in the energy structure of the USA. Being able to predict the trend of renewable energy consumption in advance plays a vital role in economic development and policymaking. Aiming at the small and changeable annual data of renewable energy consumption in the USA, a fractional delay discrete model of variable weight buffer operator based on grey wolf optimizer is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the variable weight buffer operator method is used to preprocess the data, and then, a new model is constructed by using the discrete modeling method and the concept of fractional delay term. The parameter estimation and time response formula of the new model are deduced, and it is proved that the new model combined with the variable weight buffer operator satisfies the new information priority principle of the final modeling data. The grey wolf optimizer is used to optimize the order of the new model and the weight of the variable weight buffer operator. Based on the renewable energy consumption data of solar energy, total biomass energy and wind energy in the field of renewable energy, the grey prediction model is established. The results show that the model has better prediction accuracy, adaptability and stability than the other five models mentioned in this paper. According to the forecast results, the consumption of solar and wind energy in the USA will increase incrementally in the coming years, while the consumption of biomass will decrease year by year.

New indicator of habitat functionality reveals high risk of underestimating trade-offs among sustainable development goals: The case of wild reindeer and hydropower

Although biodiversity is crucial for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), following the current trajectory, we risk failing SDG 15. Using a new indicator quantifying the loss of functional habitat (habitat that is simultaneously suitable and well-connected), we show that the real impact of renewable energy is far larger than previously assumed. Specifically, we estimate that the construction of hydropower reservoirs in south Norway caused a loss of ca. 222 km² of functional habitat for wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)-which is far larger than assumed based on land inundation indices (110 km²). Fully mitigating these impacts is challenging: scenario analyses reveal that the measures proposed by societal actors would yield only a fraction of the habitat lost (2-12 km²) and could cause trade-off risks with other SDGs. Using indices of functional connectivity is crucial for environmental impact assessments, as entire ecological networks for several species can be affected far beyond the reservoirs.

Green or not? Environmental challenges from photovoltaic technology

The booming demands for energy and the drive towards low-carbon energy sources have prompted a worldwide emerging constructions of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy facilities. Compared with fossil-based electrical power system, PV solar energy has significantly lower pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. However, PV solar technology are not free of adverse environmental consequences such as biodiversity and habitat loss, climatic effects, resource consumption, and disposal of massive end-of-life PV panels. This review highlights the benefits and potential environmental impacts of implementing PV technologies. To the end, some proposals are recommended to improve this new technology's sustainability.

The roles of organic farming, renewable energy, and corruption on biodiversity crisis: a European perspective

The loss of biodiversity has profound implications for nature's contributions to people and their health. This study intends to examine the factors responsible for biodiversity loss as well as the coping mechanisms to address this crisis in the context of 35 European economies covering the 2009-2018 period. The study utilises both the static and dynamic panel estimation techniques to examine the above issue. Specifically, the study applied Driscoll and Kraay (1998a), Driscoll and Kraay (Rev Econ Stat 80:549-560, 1998b) and Panel Corrected Standard Approach (PCSE) for the static panel models. As for dynamic panel models, the study employs linear dynamic panel model by Arrelano and Bond (Rev Econ Stud 58:277-297, 1991) and Arrelano and Bover (J Econom 68:29-51, 1995)/Blundell and Bond (J Econom 87:115-143, 1998) system generalised methods of moments (GMM). Morandeover for robustness purposes, fixed and random effect models are also applied. The findings indicate that renewable energy use increases biodiversity crisis whereas organic farming is beneficial for biodiversity preservation in Europe. Corruption and gender gap were found to increase the biodiversity crisis. The evidence also suggests a positive and significant effect of forest area, e-governance and social progress on biodiversity. Finally, the study provides insightful implications for stakeholders and practitioners associated with energy and biodiversity conservation in Europe.

Wind turbines in managed forests partially displace common birds

Wind turbines are increasingly being installed in forests, which can lead to land use disputes between climate mitigation efforts and nature conservation. Environmental impact assessments precede the construction of wind turbines to ensure that wind turbines are installed only in managed or degraded forests that are of potentially low value for conservation. It is unknown, nevertheless, if animals deemed of minor relevance in environmental impact assessments are affected by wind turbines in managed forests. We investigated the impact of wind turbines on common forest birds, by counting birds along an impact-gradient of wind turbines in 24 temperate forests in Hesse, Germany. During 860 point counts, we counted 2231 birds from 45 species. Bird communities were strongly related to forest structure, season and the rotor diameter of wind turbines, but were not related to wind turbine distance. For instance, bird abundance decreased in structure-poor (-38%) and monocultural (-41%) forests with wind turbines, and in young (-36%) deciduous forests with larger and more wind turbines (-24%). Overall, our findings suggest that wind turbines in managed forests partially displace common forest birds. If these birds are displaced to harsh environments, wind turbines might indirectly contribute to a decline of their populations. Yet, forest bird communities are locally more sensitive to forest quality than to wind turbine presence. To prevent further displacement of forest animals, forests of lowest quality for wildlife should be preferred in spatial planning for wind turbines, for instance small and structure-poor monocultures along highways.

Nature-based climate solutions require a mix of socioeconomic and governance attributes

Nature-based climate solutions (NCS) can play a crucial role in reducing climate change. There is, however, a lack of understanding of the biophysical, social, and political contexts surrounding NCS, which hampers its practical implementation. Here, we used estimates of carbon sink potential to identify socioeconomic and ecological factors that may stimulate NCS implementation in developing economies. We considered carbon sink potential for eight NCS, including reforestation, peatland restoration, natural forest management, improved rice cultivation, optimal grazing intensity, grazing (legumes), avoided peatland impacts, and avoided coastal impacts. Food insecurity hotspots, which currently receive the most development aid, have the lowest likelihood of realizing NCS' potential. Poor governance structures and food insecurity impede the implementation of NCS projects at the country level. By carefully assessing complementary food security, sustainable financing, and soil quality safeguards, NCS as a nationally determined contribution to climate mitigation can be made more effective.

Environmental and technical impacts of floating photovoltaic plants as an emerging clean energy technology

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) plants present several benefits in comparison with ground-mounted photovoltaics (PVs) and could have major positive environmental and technical impacts globally. FPVs do not occupy habitable and productive areas and can be deployed in degraded environments and reduce land-use conflicts. Saving water through mitigating evaporation and improving water security in arid regions combined with the flexibility for deployment on different water bodies including drinking water reservoirs are other advantages of FPVs. They also have higher efficiency than ground-mounted PV solar and are compatible with the existing hydropower infrastructures, which supports diversifying the energy supply and its resilience. Despite the notable growth of FPVs on an international scale, lack of supporting policies and development roadmaps by the governments could hinder FPVs’ sustainable growth. Long-term reliability of the floating structures is also one of the existing concerns that if not answered could limit the expansion of this emerging technology.

Human impacts on the world’s raptors

Raptors are emblematic of the global biodiversity crisis because one out of five species are threatened with extinction and over half have declining populations due to human threats. Yet our understanding of where these “threats” impact raptor species is limited across terrestrial Earth. This is concerning because raptors, as apex predators, are critically positioned in ecological food webs, and their declining populations can undermine important ecosystem services ranging from pest control to disease regulation. Here, we map the distribution of 15 threats within the known ranges of 172 threatened and near threatened raptor species globally as declared by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. We analyze the proportion of each raptor range that is exposed to threats, identify global hotspots of impacted raptor richness, and investigate how human impacts on raptors vary based on several intrinsic (species traits) and extrinsic factors. We find that humans are potentially negatively affecting at least one threatened raptor species across three quarters of Earth’s terrestrial area (78%; 113 million km2). Our results also show that raptors have 66% of their range potentially impacted by threats on average (range 2.7–100%). Alarmingly, critically endangered species have 90% of their range impacted by threats on average. We also highlight 57 species (33%) of particular concern that have > 90% of their ranges potentially impacted. Without immediate conservation intervention, these 57 species, including the most heavily impacted Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti), the Madagascar Serpent-eagle (Eutriorchis astur), and the Rufous Fishing-owl (Scotopelia ussheri), will likely face extinction in the near future. Global “hotspots” of impacted raptor richness are ubiquitous, with core areas of threat in parts of the Sahel and East Africa where 92% of the assessed raptors are potentially impacted per grid cell (10 species on average), and in Northern India where nearly 100% of raptors are potentially impacted per grid cell (11 species). Additionally, “coolspots” of unimpacted richness that represent refuges from threats occur in Greenland and Canada, where 98 and 58% of raptors are potentially unimpacted per grid cell, respectively (nearly one species on average), Saharan Africa, where 21% of raptors are potentially unimpacted per grid cell (one species on average), and parts of the Amazon, where 12% of raptors are potentially unimpacted per grid cell (0.6 species on average). The results provide essential information to guide conservation planning and action for the world’s imperiled raptors.

Towards smart energy systems – A survey about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on renewable energy research

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on renewable energy. This work investigates the effect of pandemic on the renewable energy research from four aspects: the regional cooperation model of renewable energy research, the research hotspots of renewable energy during the pandemic, the development trend of renewable energy research hotspots in the post-pandemic, policy recommendations for development in the post-epidemic era. Systematic literature review (SLR), latent semantic analysis (LSA), and machine learning–based analysis (principle component analysis) are used to analyze the relevant literature on the COVID-19 and renewable energy in the Scopus database. The results of geographic visualization analysis show the COVID-19 pandemic has not hindered but promoted bilateral cooperation in the field of renewable energy among the " the Belt and Road " partner countries, with China at the core. The results of visual analysis of research hotspots show the research in the field of renewable energy during pandemics is divided into two categories: “opportunities” and “crisis”, and further obtained five categories: sustainable development, environmental management, carbon emission, solar photovoltaic power, and wind power. The results of the keyword evolution map indicate the two main directions of renewable energy research in the post-pandemic: (1) Clean energy investment has become an important measure to revitalize the economy after the epidemic. (2) Energy efficiency research will effectively promote the sustainable development of renewable energy. Finally, we put forward policy suggestions on how to build a smart energy system in the post-epidemic era.

A global record of annual terrestrial Human Footprint dataset from 2000 to 2018

Human Footprint, the pressure imposed on the eco-environment by changing ecological processes and natural landscapes, is raising worldwide concerns on biodiversity and ecological conservation. Due to the lack of spatiotemporally consistent datasets of Human Footprint over a long temporal span, many relevant studies on this topic have been limited. Here, we mapped the annual dynamics of the global Human Footprint from 2000 to 2018 using eight variables that reflect different aspects of human pressures. The accuracy assessment revealed a good agreement between our mapped results and the previously developed datasets in different years. We found more than two million km² of wilderness (i.e., regions with Human Footprint values below one) were lost over the past two decades. The biome dominated by mangroves experienced the most significant loss (i.e., above 5%) of wilderness, likely attributed to intensified human activities in coastal areas. The derived annual and spatiotemporally consistent global Human Footprint can be a fundamental dataset for many relevant studies about human activities and natural resources.

Measurement(s)	human footprint
Technology Type(s)	remote sensing
Factor Type(s)	Built Environment • Population Density • Nighttime lights • Croplands • Pastures • Roads • Railways • Navigable waterways

How do we best synergize climate mitigation actions to co-benefit biodiversity?

A multitude of actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems can have co-benefits for both climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Reducing greenhouse emissions to limit warming to less than 1.5 or 2°C above preindustrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, can yield strong co-benefits for land, freshwater and marine biodiversity and reduce amplifying climate feedbacks from ecosystem changes. Not all climate mitigation strategies are equally effective at producing biodiversity co-benefits, some in fact are counterproductive. Moreover, social implications are often overlooked within the climate-biodiversity nexus. Protecting biodiverse and carbon-rich natural environments, ecological restoration of potentially biodiverse and carbon-rich habitats, the deliberate creation of novel habitats, taking into consideration a locally adapted and meaningful (i.e. full consequences considered) mix of these measures, can result in the most robust win-win solutions. These can be further enhanced by avoidance of narrow goals, taking long-term views and minimizing further losses of intact ecosystems. In this review paper, we first discuss various climate mitigation actions that evidence demonstrates can negatively impact biodiversity, resulting in unseen and unintended negative consequences. We then examine climate mitigation actions that co-deliver biodiversity and societal benefits. We give examples of these win-win solutions, categorized as 'protect, restore, manage and create', in different regions of the world that could be expanded, upscaled and used for further innovation.

Using interview surveys and multispecies occupancy models to inform vertebrate conservation

Species distribution data are an essential biodiversity variable requiring robust monitoring to inform wildlife conservation. Yet, such data remain inherently sparse because of the logistical challenges of monitoring biodiversity across broad geographic extents. Surveys of people knowledgeable about the occurrence of wildlife provide an opportunity to evaluate species distributions and the ecology of wildlife communities across large spatial scales. We analyzed detection histories of 30 vertebrate species across the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India, obtained from a large-scale interview survey of 2318 people who live and work in the forests of this region. We developed a multispecies occupancy model that simultaneously corrected for false-negative (non-detection) and false-positive (misidentification) errors that interview surveys can be prone to. Using this model, we integrated data across species in composite analyses of the responses of functional species groups (based on disturbance tolerance, diet, and body mass traits) to spatial variation in environmental variables, protection, and anthropogenic pressures. We observed a positive association between forest cover and the occurrence of species with low tolerance of human disturbance. Protected areas were associated with higher occurrence for species across different functional groups compared with unprotected lands. We also observed the occurrence of species with low disturbance tolerance, herbivores, and large-bodied species was negatively associated with developmental pressures, such as human settlements, energy production and mining, and demographic pressures, such as biological resource extraction. For the conservation of threatened vertebrates, our work underscores the importance of maintaining forest cover and reducing deforestation within and outside protected areas, respectively. In addition, mitigating a suite of pervasive human pressures is also crucial for wildlife conservation in one of the world's most densely populated biodiversity hotspots.

Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production

Renewable energy production can kill individual birds, but little is known about how it affects avian populations. We assessed the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at wind and solar facilities in California, USA. Bayesian hierarchical models suggested that 48% of these species were vulnerable to population-level effects from added fatalities caused by renewables and other sources. Effects of renewables extended far beyond the location of energy production to impact bird populations in distant regions across continental migration networks. Populations of species associated with grasslands where turbines were located were most vulnerable to wind. Populations of nocturnal migrant species were most vulnerable to solar, despite not typically being associated with deserts where the solar facilities we evaluated were located. Our findings indicate that addressing declines of North American bird populations requires consideration of the effects of renewables and other anthropogenic threats on both nearby and distant populations of vulnerable species.

Ten facts about land systems for sustainability

Land use is central to addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity conservation, climate change, food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainable energy. In this paper, we synthesize knowledge accumulated in land system science, the integrated study of terrestrial social-ecological systems, into 10 hard truths that have strong, general, empirical support. These facts help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in land use and thus also point toward solutions. The 10 facts are as follows: 1) Meanings and values of land are socially constructed and contested; 2) land systems exhibit complex behaviors with abrupt, hard-to-predict changes; 3) irreversible changes and path dependence are common features of land systems; 4) some land uses have a small footprint but very large impacts; 5) drivers and impacts of land-use change are globally interconnected and spill over to distant locations; 6) humanity lives on a used planet where all land provides benefits to societies; 7) land-use change usually entails trade-offs between different benefits-"win-wins" are thus rare; 8) land tenure and land-use claims are often unclear, overlapping, and contested; 9) the benefits and burdens from land are unequally distributed; and 10) land users have multiple, sometimes conflicting, ideas of what social and environmental justice entails. The facts have implications for governance, but do not provide fixed answers. Instead they constitute a set of core principles which can guide scientists, policy makers, and practitioners toward meeting sustainability challenges in land use.

Predicted wind and solar energy expansion has minimal overlap with multiple conservation priorities across global regions

Protected areas and renewable energy generation are critical tools to combat biodiversity loss and climate change, respectively. Over the coming decades, expansion of the protected area network to meet conservation objectives will be occurring alongside rapid deployment of renewable energy infrastructure to meet climate targets, driving potential conflict for a finite land resource. Renewable energy infrastructure can have negative effects on wildlife, and co-occurrence may mean emissions targets are met at the expense of conservation objectives. Here, we assess current and projected overlaps of wind and solar photovoltaic installations and important conservation areas across nine global regions using spatially explicit wind and solar data and methods for predicting future renewable expansion. We show similar levels of co-occurrence as previous studies but demonstrate that once area is accounted for, previous concerns about overlaps in the Northern Hemisphere may be largely unfounded, although they are high in some biodiverse countries (e.g., Brazil). Future projections of overlap between the two land uses presented here are generally dependent on priority threshold and region and suggest the risk of future conflict can be low. We use the best available data on protected area degradation to corroborate this level of risk. Together, our findings indicate that while conflicts between renewables and protected areas inevitably do occur, renewables represent an important option for decarbonization of the energy sector that would not significantly affect area-based conservation targets if deployed with appropriate policy and regulatory controls.

Global identification and mapping of socio-ecological production landscapes with the Satoyama Index

Production landscapes play an important role in conserving biodiversity outside protected areas. Socio-ecological production landscapes (SEPL) are places where people use for primary production that conserve biodiversity. Such places can be found around the world, but a lack of geographic information on SEPL has resulted in their potential for conservation being neglected in policies and programs. We tested the global applicability of the Satoyama Index for identifying SEPL in multi-use cultural landscapes using global land use/cover data and two datasets of known SEPL. We found that the Satoyama Index, which was developed with a focus on biodiversity and tested in Japan, could be used globally to identify landscapes resulting from complex interactions between people and nature with statistical significance. This makes SEPL more relevant in the global conservation discourse. As the Satoyama Index mapping revealed that approximately 80% of SEPL occur outside recognized conservation priorities, such as protected areas and key biodiversity areas, identifying SEPL under the scheme of other area-based conservation measures (OECM) may bring more conservation attention to SEPL. Based on the issues identified in the SEPL mapping, we discuss ways that could improve the Satoyama Index mapping at global scale with the longitudinal temporal dimension and at more local scale with spatial and thematic resolution.

Defining Pathways towards African Ecological Futures

Africa has experienced unprecedented growth across a range of development indices for decades. However, this growth is often at the expense of Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people depending on the goods and services provided by nature, with broader consequences for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Encouragingly, Africa can still take a more sustainable path. Here, we synthesize the key learnings from the African Ecological Futures project. We report results from a participatory scenario planning process around four collectively-owned scenarios and narratives for the evolution of Africa’s ecological resource base over the next 50 years. These scenarios provided a lens to review pressures on the natural environment, through the drivers, pressures, state, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) framework. Based on the outcomes from each of these steps, we discuss opportunities to reorient Africa’s development trajectories towards a sustainable path. These opportunities fall under the broad categories of “effective natural resource governance”, “strategic planning capabilities”, “investment safeguards and frameworks”, and “new partnership models”. Underpinning all these opportunities are “data, management information, and decision support frameworks”. This work can help inform collaborative action by a broad set of actors with an interest in ensuring a sustainable ecological future for Africa.

Current site planning of medium to large solar power systems accelerates the loss of the remaining semi-natural and agricultural habitats

The global transition to renewable energy sources has accelerated to mitigate the effects of global climate change. Sudden increases in solar power facilities have caused the physical destruction of wildlife habitats, thereby resulting in the decline of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, previous assessments have been based on the environmental impact of large solar photovoltaics (PVs). The impact of medium-sized PV facilities (0.5-10 MW), which can alter small habitat patches through the accumulation of installations has not been assessed. Here, we quantified the amount of habitat loss directly related to the construction of PV facilities with different size classes and estimated their siting attributes using construction patterns in Japan and South Korea. We identified that a comparable amount of natural and semi-natural habitats were lost due to the recent installation of medium solar facilities (approximately 66.36 and 85.73% of the overall loss in Japan and South Korea, respectively). Compared to large solar PVs, medium PV installations resulted in a higher area loss of semi-natural habitats, including secondary/planted forests, secondary/artificial grasslands, and agricultural lands. The siting attributes of medium and large solar PV facilities indicated a preference for cost-based site selection rather than prioritizing habitat protection for biodiversity conservation. Moreover, even conservation areas were developed when economic and topological conditions were suitable for energy production. Our simulations indicate that increasing the construction of PVs in urban areas could help reduce the loss of natural and semi-natural habitats. To improve the renewable energy share while mitigating the impacts on biodiversity, our results stress the need for a proactive assessment to enforce sustainable site-selection criteria for solar PVs in renewable energy initiatives. The revised criteria should consider the cumulative impacts of varied size classes of solar power facilities, including medium PVs, and the diverse aspects of the ecological value of natural habitats.

The importance of Indigenous Peoples' lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals

Indigenous Peoples' lands cover over one-quarter of Earth's surface, a significant proportion of which is still free from industrial-level human impacts. As a result, Indigenous Peoples and their lands are crucial for the long-term persistence of Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet, information on species composition on these lands globally remains largely unknown. We conducted the first comprehensive analysis of terrestrial mammal composition across mapped Indigenous lands based on data on area of habitat (AOH) for 4460 mammal species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We overlaid each species' AOH on a current map of Indigenous lands and found that 2695 species (60% of assessed mammals) had ≥10% of their ranges on Indigenous Peoples' lands and 1009 species (23%) had >50% of their ranges on these lands. For threatened species, 473 (47%) occurred on Indigenous lands with 26% having >50% of their habitat on these lands. We also found that 935 mammal species (131 categorized as threatened) had ≥ 10% of their range on Indigenous Peoples' lands that had low human pressure. Our results show how important Indigenous Peoples' lands are to the successful implementation of conservation and sustainable development agendas worldwide.

Reduction in global habitat loss from fossil-fuel-dependent increases in cropland productivity

Terrestrial biodiversity loss and climate change, driven mainly by loss of habitat to agriculture and fossil fuel (FF) use, respectively, are considered among the world's greatest environmental threats. However, FF-dependent technologies are currently essential for manufacturing synthetic nitrogen fertilizers (SNFs) and synthetic pesticides (SPs) critical to increasing agricultural productivity, which reduces habitat loss. Fossil fuel use increases CO₂ levels, further enhancing agricultural productivity. Based on estimates of global increases in yields from SNFs, SPs, and atmospheric CO₂ fertilization, I estimated that FF-dependent technologies are responsible for at least 62.5% of current global food production (GFP) from cropland. Thus, if FF use is eschewed in the future, maintaining current GFP means croplands would have to increase from 12.2% of global land area (GLA) excluding Antarctica to 32.7%. The additional 20.4% of GLA needed exceeds habitat lost currently to cropland (12.2% of GLA) and cumulative conservation areas globally (14.6% of GLA). Thus, although eliminating FF use could reduce climate change, its unintended consequences may be to significantly exacerbate biodiversity loss and indirectly increase food costs, reducing food security which, moreover, disproportionately affects the poor. Although it may be possible to replace SNFs and SPs with FF-free technologies, such substitutes have not yet been demonstrated to be sufficiently economical or efficient. In the interim, meeting global food demand and keeping food prices affordable would increase habitat conversion and food prices. These trade-offs should be considered in analyses of climate change policies.

The biodiversity-wind energy-land use nexus in a global biodiversity hotspot

Wind energy is the leading renewable technology towards achieving climate goals, yet biodiversity trade-offs via land take are emerging. Thus, we are facing the paradox of impacting on biodiversity to combat climate change. We suggest a novel method of spatial planning that enhances windfarm sustainability: investments are prioritized in the most fragmented zones that lie outside the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. We showcase it in Greece, a biodiversity hotspot with a strong climate policy and land conflict between conservation and wind energy schemes. The analysis indicates that the suggested investment zone supports wind harnessing 1.5 times higher than the 2030 national goal, having only marginally lower (4%) wind speed. It performs well for the conservation of the annexed habitats and species of the two Nature Directives and it greatly overlaps with the Important Bird Areas (93%) and the roadless areas (80%) of Greece. It also greatly overlaps (82%-91%) with the exclusion zones suggested according to three sensitivity maps for bird conservation. Since land use change triggers biodiversity decline, we underline the necessity of such approaches for meeting both climate and biodiversity goals and call for a greater environmental policy convergence towards biodiversity conservation and no net land take.

Facilitating Policy Responses for Renewable Energy and Biodiversity

Renewable energy contributes substantially to climate change mitigation, but its expansion can have trade-offs with biodiversity. These trade-offs could be reduced by building a strong evidence base, rationalizing the selection of sites and operational characteristics of renewable energy installations, and coordinating concerted policy efforts at the national and international levels.

Green Technological Development and Deployment in the Association of Southeast Asian Economies (ASEAN)—At Crossroads or Roundabout?

Southeast Asia faces one of the fastest growths in electricity demand in the world, driven by increasing incomes, urbanization and industrialization. Development and deployment of green energy technologies offer a natural conduit to meet the growing electricity needs of the Association of Southeast Asian Economies (ASEAN) region while also serving as a viable strategy to adapt to climate change. The aim of this study is to formulate the policy lessons for the ASEAN economies and governments in facilitating the development and deployment of green technologies and alternatives energy options based on a specific case review of the ASEAN. The ASEAN economic region is prioritizing sustainable economic growth while minimizing the regional impacts of climate change through decarbonization. The study undertakes a case-specific analysis in reviewing green energy deployment in the context of green growth and energy transition using secondary data sources and discusses the current status and future options of renewable energy development in the ASEAN. We find that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will allow the ASEAN to continue to use fossil fuels while achieving sustainable economic growth as coal demand increases in the region. The deployment of CCS technologies will also act as an enabler of hydrogen energy as a green energy solution in the region in the longer term. Boosting public acceptance to nuclear energy, implementing energy efficiency improvement policies and eliminating fossil fuels consumption subsidies are feasible short-term and medium-term policies. Increasing both the public and private sector energy investments and development of CCS technologies in the longer term are necessary complementary policies to maximize the benefits of greater deployment of renewable energy sources in the region and combat climate change.

Modelling energy performance using a new hybrid DE/MARS-based approach for fossil-fuel thermal power stations

Despite their environmental impact, fossil-fuel power plants are still commonly used due to their high capacity and relatively low cost compared to renewable energy sources. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of such energy systems as a key element within a fossil-fuel energy supply network. The methodology relies on fossil-fuel power plant modelling to define an optimal energy management level. However, it can be difficult to model the energy management of thermal power stations (TPS). Therefore, this paper shows an energy efficiency model found on a new hybrid algorithm that is a combination of multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) and differential evolution (DE) to estimate net annual electricity generation (NAEG) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (CDE) from economic and performance variables in thermal power plants. This technique requires the DE optimisation of the MARS hyperparameters during the development of the training process. In addition to successfully forecast net annual electricity generation (NAEG) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (CDE) (coefficients of determination with a value of 0.9803 and 0.9895, respectively), the mathematical model used in this work can determine the importance of each economic and energy parameter to characterize the behaviour of thermal power stations.

Cultural Ecosystem Services in the Natura 2000 Network: Introducing Proxy Indicators and Conflict Risk in Greece

Within the ecosystem services framework, cultural ecosystem services (CES) have rarely been applied in state-wide surveys of protected area networks. Through a review of available data and online research, we present 22 potential proxy indicators of non-material benefits people may obtain from nature in Natura sites in Greece. Despite the limitations due to data scarcity, this first distance-based study screens a recently expanded protected area system (446 Natura sites) providing steps towards an initial CES capacity review, site prioritization and data gap screening. Results identify hot spot Natura sites for CES values and wider areas of importance for the supply of CES. Additionally, a risk analysis mapping exercise explores the potential risk of conflict in the Natura sites, due to proposed wind farm developments. Α number of sites that may suffer serious degradation of CES values due to the large number of proposed wind turbines within these protected areas is identified, with 26% of Greece’s Natura sites showing serious and high risk of degradation of their aesthetic values. Screening-level survey exercises such as these may play an important role in advancing conservation effectiveness by increasing the appreciation of the multiple benefits provided by Natura protected areas. Based on this review, we propose recommendations through an adaptive approach to CES inventory and research initiatives in the protected area network.

Feasibility of a 100% Global Renewable Energy System

Controversy exists as to whether renewable energy (RE) can provide for all the world’s energy needs. The purpose of this paper is to help resolve this vital question. Official forecasts see a resumption of a business-as-usual world after the pandemic-induced recession, with further economic growth out to at least 2050. The novel approach taken in this paper is to assume that such a world is fueled entirely with RE at global energy levels at or above those of today, and then to examine whether this scenario is feasible. Because the intermittent primary electricity sources, wind, and solar power, would have to supply nearly all this energy, a simplification made for this analysis is that they do supply 100% of all energy, including non-electrical energy needs. It is found that the energy that could be delivered by these two sources is much less than often assumed, for several reasons: The declining quality of inputs; the need for inclusion of uncounted environmental costs; the need for energy conversion and storage; and the removal of existing fossil fuel energy subsidies. It is concluded that a future world entirely fuelled by RE would necessarily be a lower-energy one.

The Green Versus Green Trap and a Way Forward

Massive deployment of renewables is considered as a decisive step in most countries’ climate efforts. However, at the local scale, it is also perceived by many as a threat to their rich and diverse natural environment. With this perspective, we argue that this green versus green pseudo-dilemma highlights how crucial a broad societal buy-in is. New, transparent, participatory processes and mechanisms that are oriented toward social licensing can now be employed. A novel, integrative research agenda must orbit around co-creation to enable and promote resource co-management and co-ownership where possible, with increased consensus.

Limited accessibility and bias in wildlife-wind energy knowledge: A bilingual systematic review of a globally distributed bird group

Wind energy is a key component of climate action strategies aimed at reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Despite providing environmental benefits, there are increasing concerns surrounding the impact of wind farms on wildlife, with research indicating that effects on wildlife can be highly variable between species, regions, and sites. In light of this variability and the accelerating growth of the wind energy sector globally, a comprehensive understanding of wind farm effects on wildlife and ease of access to this knowledge are pivotal to inform best practice if wind energy is to become a truly sustainable source of energy. This review evaluates interactions between a globally distributed bird genus (harriers, Circus sp.) and wind farms to assess broader patterns in wildlife-wind energy knowledge accessibility and bias. A systematic review of grey and peer-reviewed literature across two multidisciplinary and two field-specific databases in two languages (English and Spanish) yielded 235 relevant sources, covering 12 harrier species and 31 countries. Findings indicate that harriers are considered to have high sensitivity to wind farms, with greatest impacts expected from habitat effects rather than from turbine collisions. In the broader wildlife-wind energy context, this study underscores (i) the predominance of grey literature and of sources solely documenting species-wind farm overlaps; (ii) limitations in grey literature availability and peer-reviewed publication accessibility; (iii) lack of standardized research and monitoring practices; and (iv) evidence of language, taxonomic, and geographic bias in literature sources. Overall, findings demonstrate that limited accessibility to wildlife-wind energy knowledge risks widening the research-implementation gap. Widespread implementation of open practices that allow researchers and practitioners to build on existing knowledge (e.g. national and international online repositories and databases, knowledge sharing and collaborative initiatives, open access publications) is crucial if ongoing wind energy development efforts are to be successfully aligned with conservation priorities.

Energy and Climate Policy—An Evaluation of Global Climate Change Expenditure 2011–2018

Concern for climate change is one of the drivers of new, transitional energy policies oriented towards economic growth and energy security, along with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and preservation of biodiversity. Since 2010, the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has been publishing annual Global Landscape of Climate Finance reports. According to these reports, US$3660 billion has been spent on global climate change projects over the period 2011–2018. Fifty-five percent of this expenditure has gone to wind and solar energy. According to world energy reports, the contribution of wind and solar to world energy consumption has increased from 0.5% to 3% over this period. Meanwhile, coal, oil, and gas continue to supply 85% of the world’s energy consumption, with hydroelectricity and nuclear providing most of the remainder. With this in mind, we consider the potential engineering challenges and environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the main energy sources (old and new). We find that the literature raises many concerns about the engineering feasibility as well as environmental impacts of wind and solar. However, none of the current or proposed energy sources is a “panacea”. Rather, each technology has pros and cons, and policy-makers should be aware of the cons as well as the pros when making energy policy decisions. We urge policy-makers to identify which priorities are most important to them, and which priorities they are prepared to compromise on.

Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity

Renewable energy production is necessary to halt climate change and reverse associated biodiversity losses. However, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will drive an increase in the production of many metals, creating new mining threats for biodiversity. Here, we map mining areas and assess their spatial coincidence with biodiversity conservation sites and priorities. Mining potentially influences 50 million km² of Earth’s land surface, with 8% coinciding with Protected Areas, 7% with Key Biodiversity Areas, and 16% with Remaining Wilderness. Most mining areas (82%) target materials needed for renewable energy production, and areas that overlap with Protected Areas and Remaining Wilderness contain a greater density of mines (our indicator of threat severity) compared to the overlapping mining areas that target other materials. Mining threats to biodiversity will increase as more mines target materials for renewable energy production and, without strategic planning, these new threats to biodiversity may surpass those averted by climate change mitigation.

Renewable energy production is necessary to mitigate climate change, however, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will demand huge production increases of many metals. Here, the authors map mining areas and assess spatial coincidence with biodiversity conservation sites, and show that new mining threats to biodiversity may surpass those averted by climate change mitigation.

Simulated Photovoltaic Solar Panels Alter the Seed Bank Survival of Two Desert Annual Plant Species

Seed bank survival underpins plant population persistence but studies on seed bank trait-environment interactions are few. Changes in environmental conditions relevant to seed banks occur in desert ecosystems owing to solar energy development. We developed a conceptual model of seed bank survival to complement methodologies using in-situ seed bank packets. Using this framework, we quantified the seed bank survival of two closely related annual desert plant species, one rare (Eriophyllum mohavense) and one common (Eriophyllum wallacei), and the seed bank-environment interactions of these two species in the Mojave Desert within a system that emulates microhabitat variation associated with solar energy development. We tracked 4860 seeds buried across 540 seed packets and found, averaged across both species, that seed bank survival was 21% and 6% for the first and second growing seasons, respectively. After two growing seasons, the rare annual had a significantly greater seed bank survival (10%) than the common annual (2%). Seed bank survival across both species was significantly greater in shade (10%) microhabitats compared to runoff (5%) and control microhabitats (3%). Our study proffers insight into this early life-stage across rare and common congeners and their environmental interactions using a novel conceptual framework for seed bank survival.

Residents’ Views on Landscape and Ecosystem Services during a Wind Farm Proposal in an Island Protected Area

Industrial wind farms are being developed within many protected areas, such as in EU Natura 2000 sites; this includes proposals on small Mediterranean islands, such as Samothraki in Greece. Scarce wild land areas on islands may be particularly vulnerable to landscape-scale degradation; this may have serious negative societal impacts. Samothraki’s resident perceptions were surveyed in the wake of such a proposal, in June 2018. Of 98 respondents, 48% reported they were against the wind farm plan, while 22% did not take sides. We compare for-and-against sub-group perceptions of the proposed wind farm with potential impacts on the landscape and explore residents’ opinions on ecosystem services and environmental pressures and threats. Conflict over the wind farm was prevalent; residents most frequently reported that the proposal threatens aesthetic and landscape qualities. Aesthetic qualities were also the second highest ranked ecosystem services, after freshwater provision. However, other threats, such as livestock overgrazing, top residents’ opinion of major environmental problems on the island. The questionnaire survey used provides a scoping assessment, which may assist in identifying "conflict hotspots" for wind farm development. A critical review of wind farm planning in protected areas is presented in light of insights gained from this survey and other relevant studies.