‘Energising’ Nature: Rethinking the Sustainability of Renewable Energy Usage vis-à-vis Wildlife Conservation

Abstract

Today the world is facing an extraordinary environmental crisis. The devastating impact of anthropogenic climate change has resulted in the rapid decline of global biodiversity. From habitat degradation to unprecedented temperature changes, the unpredictability surrounding this crisis demands incentive-based approaches to biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of resources. In recent years, the switch to renewable energy sources has received considerable global attention. Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, and solar energy can effectively replace fast-depleting fossil fuels, thereby drastically reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality, and enhancing human health. Although the feasibility of producing renewable energy can vary across demographics and between the seasons, with the help of advanced technology, these sources can be utilised all year round to help cut down energy production costs in the long term. Nevertheless, as recent studies caution, a transition to renewable energy production can crucially affect weather patterns and existing habitat characteristics, resulting in critical biodiversity loss. These changes include altering species habitats, animal migration patterns, damaging croplands, and increasing human-wildlife conflict. Therefore, climate change problems, wildlife conservation, and energy production cannot be addressed in isolation. This article briefly discusses some aspects of this complex relationship between human-wildlife conflict and renewable energy production and argues in favour of a community commons-based approach to address some emerging problems.