Towards a sustainable energy transition

Abstract In efforts to curb global CO 2 emissions, energy production sees massive transformations worldwide—away from fossil‐fuel to renewable power generation. However, the construction and operation of renewable energy infrastructure alters landscapes and habitats on this global scale and may have a range of environmental and ecological impacts on species, populations, biodiversity and ultimately, ecosystem services and disservices. As the climate and biodiversity crisis are two of the greatest challenges of our time, and both are interlinked, we need to consider biodiversity costs in gains from transitioning to net‐zero and conversely, costs of the energy transition in terms of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This Special Feature includes works that address current questions as to the implications of new energy infrastructure for biodiversity, identify trade‐offs for balancing contrasting aims of energy production and biodiversity conservation, and propose mitigation measures for potentially harmful effects. Synthesis and applications . Combining the goals of energy transition and biodiversity protection is both necessary and possible. With the costs of inaction increasing rapidly, we need to remember that combatting climate change (through the energy transition) is an important element in halting biodiversity loss (through climate change). Still, some questions remain as to the net effects of globally upscaled use of renewable energy production on biodiversity and whether scalable mitigation measures for these costs will be sufficiently effective.