Nature-safe Energy: Linking energy and nature to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises

Cleanaction Nature Safe Energy Report

During the COP26 climate negotiations in Glasgow, we brought together six leading organizations to consider the link between energy and nature. The Coalition Linking Energy And Nature for Action (CLEANaction) was launched as a global platform to address the impact of future energy supplies on the natural environment upon which our lifestyles and livelihoods ultimately depend.

We know that renewable energy is our best option to meet future energy needs without irreparably damaging our climate and nature. But even renewables will be disruptive to the natural environment when they are installed and maintained.

This disruption must be minimised to avoid any further loss of biodiversity (the variety of plant and animal life in the world). CLEANaction aims to ensure that the transition to a renewable energy future, so urgently required, does not compromise our immediate need to restore nature.

Jointly solving the climate crisis, the energy crisis and this crisis in nature is critical if we are to maintain healthy living conditions for future generations. This is the mission of CLEANaction, which seeks to raise awareness of the link between energy and nature, to build capacity and understanding to ensure corrective responses are made, and to demonstrate the type of effective action that must be taken.

As a first step, the CLEANaction partners commissioned The Biodiversity Consultancy to review the issues and measures that must be considered for an effective response to the energy-nature crisis. Unfortunately, emerging and continuing geopolitical shifts have altered the global agenda, including the options for addressing our energy-nature challenge. Energy security has become the leading short-term priority for many countries, often without considering the associated long-term, damaging environmental impacts.

There remain a number of critical issues that must still be prioritised to avoid reaching tipping points where our planet will never again return to a sustainable level of biodiversity. We need an immediate transition from fossil fuels to renewables to avoid the climate balance being irreversibly changed, with unknown consequences. Without urgent action, we will all regret the damage that we are leaving for future generations.

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