The International Energy Agency predicts a 50% growth in demand for energy by 2030 with 80% of that demand to be met by fossil fuels. The World Energy Council has produced several scenarios and most of these predict a considerable expansion in biomass energy especially between 2050 and 2100. This demand is mainly driven by population dynamics, development needs and consumption patterns. Each of these possible futures has significant potential and likely repercussions on biodiversity, the ecosystem services it supports, and subsequent impacts on human well-being.
New and emerging technologies (e.g. “clean coal”) and alternative energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, bio-energies) can all play a role in reducing the impact of conventional energy, particularly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but either the actual energy system, relying on exploration, production and distribution technologies that are environmentally harmful, or the progressive conversion to alternative energy schemes will unavoidably have some impacts on biodiversity. Developing and implementing sustainable energy strategies based on ecosystems will require a more thorough understanding of those implications and impacts. Energy policies and strategies, including at the corporate level, need to recognize and minimize these impacts in order to avoid further degradation of ecosystem services and subsequent repercussions on human well-being.
IUCN will work to support the development of energy policies and strategies to mitigate the impact of the growing energy demand on biodiversity.
Thematic Priority Area - Naturally Energizing the Future
Implementing ecologically sustainable, equitable and efficient energy systems
Modern societies are in the midst of changing from dependence on petroleum to a much more diverse mix of energy sources. Managing this transition is going to be a major challenge, with substantial risks to biodiversity and human well-being. IUCN’s approach to influencing this transition will be based on generating knowledge about the impacts of various energy alternatives on biodiversity, designing appropriate policy measures to ensure appropriate governance, and demonstrating how biodiversity can be conserved even while new forms of energy are being developed. IUCN will support processes that accelerate the transition to energy systems that are ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and economically efficient while making full use of the best available technologies and governance arrangements.
Energy plays a role in everything we do and humanity’s growing requirements for energy are resulting in significant impacts on biodiversity. Energy supply systems both depend on and influence ecosystems. Ecosystems, such as watersheds and forests, are critical for the provisioning of energy services such as water flows for hydro-electricity and biomass for bio-energy. However, current energy production can also cause species and habitat loss along the entire energy cycle from exploration to production and distribution to final use. The very biodiversity that provides energy services is under threat by the growing demand for energy.
At the same time, globally, energy systems are changing. These changes are driven by factors such as development imperatives, security and environmental concerns. It is increasingly recognized that energy choices are also having an impact on the world’s ability to respond to and mitigate climate change. The options to meet energy demand are expanding to include renewable sources such as wind, solar, tidal and geothermal energy while recognizing that traditional sources such as coal, gas and oil cannot completely be eliminated in the near future. No one energy source is completely biodiversity-neutral and energy choices will need to be made with a full understanding of the trade-offs involved in any specific situation.
Global Result 3.1
Energy policies and strategies mitigate the impact of the growing energy demand on biodiversity.
Global Result 3.2
Ecosystem services that underpin sustainable and equitable energy are incorporated in energy policies and strategies.
On the other hand, about 1.6 billion people currently lack access to electricity and over 2 billion people depend on traditional biomass fuels for cooking and heating. Often women suffer most from ‘energy poverty’ because they are responsible for gathering food, fuel and water. The world’s poor people have a legitimate right to and need for increased energy services which are affordable, healthier, more reliable and more sustainable.
Ecosystems provide the raw material for several types of energy production: examples include biomass (wood, grasses, seeds for oils, plant material for sugars) and water flows for hydropower from the micro to the large scale. Ecosystems also provide supporting services which underpin many of the energy options – such as the creation of productive soils, nutrient cycling and photosynthesis which are all critical for biomass production. Water is essential to provide cooling for nuclear power plants, and extracting usable fuels from tar sands requires vast amounts of water. Unfortunately, the services which ecosystems are providing to energy systems are rarely formally recognized by energy producers or consumers – meaning that they are not valued, paid for, or otherwise integrated in energy decisions. Yet the positive role of biodiversity in supporting delivery of energy is dependent on responsible approaches to energy – such as implementing biodiversity offsets or locating energy production in areas of least harm to ecosystems.
IUCN will work to support full integration of ecosystem services, as the basis for sustainable and equitable energy, into energy policies and strategies.
Windturbine and rapeseed
Photo: dreamstime
