The EU policy on renewable energy and biodiversity: promoting synergies and addressing trade-offs

This paper examines the extent to which the European Green Deal (EGD) promotes renewable energy development and biodiversity conservation, while addressing trade-offs between them. By conducting a detailed qualitative analysis of 25 EGD policy and 15 legislative documents, we find that while some links between renewable energy and biodiversity have been addressed, significant policy gaps remain, requiring deeper integration and management to achieve the EGD objectives. In terms of synergies, the use of biomass residues and agricultural waste for bioenergy, integration of agrivoltaics, increased energy efficiency, and greater circularity of critical raw materials in renewable energy production can contribute to biodiversity objectives. However, there are notable trade-offs, particularly in maritime spatial planning, where climate, biodiversity, energy, and economic objectives are difficult to reconcile. Particular attention should be paid to the potential negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems of land-use change associated with biomass energy production, uncertain impacts of offshore wind and floating photovoltaics on aquatic ecosystems, environmental risks posed by ocean energy installations, and river fragmentation and wildlife changes caused by hydropower. Our findings show that achieving policy coherence and designing measures to integrate biodiversity into energy planning are essential to ensure that renewable energy expansion is compatible with biodiversity, emphasising the importance of integrated and cross-sectoral policy development.