Our research finds that the RT scenario would not only be far better for nature and society than the BAU scenario but that better outcomes would occur across 27 of the 30 impact metrics we assessed. The most improved outcomes are in actively mined land, air quality, water quality, biodiversity loss, land lost and degraded from climate change, poverty risk, exposure to chronic water scarcity, biome shifts, heat stress, and flooding risk. These enhanced results are possible largely due to the decommissioning of coal mines, reduction in combustion processes, and lower climate change impact under the RT scenario.

Three impact metrics initially showed worse outcomes in the RT scenario: water use, free-flowing rivers, and land use. However, in all three cases, there are mechanisms that can dramatically reduce the impact; in addition, the land lost due to climate change in the BAU scenario is far higher than the land used under RT.

A Nature-Positive Energy Transformation

To support a potential RT, BCG and the WWF have created a framework of mechanisms with high potential to shift energy systems onto a nature-positive pathway. These include the following:

• Policy makers should integrate conservation into their decision-making early in the planning process.
• Energy planners should create a national or grid-scale portfolio of energy technologies that optimizes energy, nature, and social objectives.
• Multiple strategies should be undertaken to reduce the footprint of the renewable transition on land, oceans, and rivers.
• Sites should be chosen for renewable energy projects that will have minimal negative impact on nature and communities.
• The impact from critical minerals mining should be addressed through existing strategies, such as developing circular economies, increasing energy efficiency, avoiding critical habitats and the deep ocean, and investing in new research and development for alternative materials.
• Regional planning should proactively improve outcomes for the environment and communities while increasing the efficiency of permitting, siting, and developing energy projects.
• Renewable energy projects should be designed, built, and operated in ways that reduce impact on species and ecosystems.

A rapid energy transition would be not only better for the planet but essential to our well-being. Countries around the globe need to rapidly transition to renewable energy sources to cut emissions and avoid the worst-case scenarios of global warming beyond 1.5°C. This effort will require going beyond local, regional, and national transitions and toward a broad transformation of our global energy system that supports net-zero, nature-positive, and sustainable development outcomes. But such a transition will only be possible if there is a more fundamental shift in how energy systems are planned and developed to stabilize the climate, reverse the nature crisis, and deliver development and economic benefits to people around the world.

The authors would like to thank Jeff Opperman, Stephanie Roe, Ryan Bartlett, and Dean Cooper of the WWF for their invaluable contributions to this article.

This article is adapted from a report created by BCG and the WWF, an independent conservation organization with over 30 million followers and a global network active in nearly 100 countries. Read the full report.