Solving 'Climate Change' and 'Biodiversity' Together — Ensuring Renewable Energy Expansion Doesn't Backfire

Explanation

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the 'two great crises' facing the planet today. They are usually discussed as separate issues, but in fact they are deeply connected.

For example, increasing renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gases is extremely important as a countermeasure against climate change. However, depending on how it is carried out, it can end up depriving living creatures of their habitats. Cutting down forests for biomass power generation or expanding fuel crop fields reduces forest area, and mining the metals needed for solar and wind power equipment and storage batteries can cause deforestation and water pollution elsewhere.

On the other hand, rich ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and seaweed beds also work to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change. In other words, protecting biodiversity also serves as a climate countermeasure.

That is why researchers are seeking approaches that avoid a 'trade-off,' in which one side is prioritized at the expense of the other, and instead create a 'synergy' that benefits both. Designing where and how energy is generated, including its impact on ecosystems, will be the key to solving the environmental problems of the future.