The World Economic Forum, in partnership with leaders from the renewable energy infrastructure sector, has launched the Responsible Renewables Infrastructure Coalition, a global alliance aimed at accelerating renewable energy infrastructure in a way that benefits communities and nature.
The coalition, consisting of stakeholders from the private sector and environmental organisations, seeks to promote equitable outcomes and protect biodiversity through actions such as community engagement, benefit sharing, job creation, and conservation of key species and ecosystems.
AES, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Enel, Iberdrola, Lightsource bp, Ørsted, RWE and Vestas, as well as Birdlife International and The Nature Conservancy have come together to support the initiative. Accenture provides support as a knowledge partner. The initiative will leverage philanthropic-public-private partnerships to foster collective commitment and large-scale action.
Kristen Panerali, Head, Clean Power, Grids and Electrification at the World Economic Forum, said, “As the global economy transitions to more renewable energy, we must ensure that this shift benefits both people and the planet. Many stakeholders recognise the need to deploy renewable energy infrastructure differently. By bringing them together, the coalition will create alignment on actions and policies that result in better outcomes for people and biodiversity while accelerating the energy transition.”
With renewable energy capacity needing to triple by 2030 to keep global temperature increases below 1.5°C, the development of large infrastructure, such as wind farms, solar power plants and grid networks, both on land and in the ocean, will be crucial.
Increasingly, these will intersect with local people, wildlife and natural ecological systems. Responsibly managing the impact of this significant infrastructure growth will be central to ensuring a rapid, sustainable and equitable energy transition for all.
Miguel Torreira, Global Utilities Strategy Lead at Accenture, said, “A responsible approach to deployment of renewable infrastructure has the potential to add value to both businesses and communities, accelerating the pace towards a clean energy system. As such, it is important to develop a common understanding of what constitutes a successful, responsible project, looking holistically at economic, environmental and social outcomes.”
Building on the action already taken to identify challenges and opportunities around the renewable energy transition, coalition members will work together to:
- Build global consensus on a unified approach to measuring the impact of renewable power infrastructure on people and nature, incorporating ongoing global and regional initiatives
- Drive corporate commitment towards adopting responsible infrastructure development practices
- Support governments in designing actionable processes and standards
Ingrid Reumert, Senior Vice-President of Global Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted, said, “Our vision is to create a world that runs entirely on green energy, where our company takes action and makes a measurable impact for communities and nature. We’re looking forward to exchanging learnings with our peers to accelerate and harmonise our actions for nature and people. We need integration, institutionalisation and implementation to have industry impact – and industry can show what’s possible.”