From human health to the health of the economy and the natural world, the renewable path does more than deliver a safer future climate. These unexpected results are just part of a much bigger picture. Indeed, a renewable future would see 30 percent less area mined! We found that, for 27 out of 30 of those metrics, a renewable future is far better than business-as-usual fossil energy use, including for two of the main villains in the narrative of renewable impact: the total amount of land affected and the extent of mining. In our report, we assessed 30 metrics across eight major categories-including air quality, human well-being, and ecosystems-and compared the impacts of a rapid transition by mid-century to those of a business-as-usual pathway in which fossil fuels still largely power our economies. But those consequences should be contextualized alongside the impacts on land-and water and human health-in a world where we don’t meet climate targets, where we continue to burn fossil fuels and countries endure higher levels of associated climate disruption. In other words, it’s important to know what the impacts on land will be from achieving the renewable transition. But here’s another crucial question to ask: How do the impacts of achieving a rapid transition compare with the impacts of not achieving the transition? We did of course find that this transition will bring some challenges for nature and communities, and our report makes clear what those are and how they might be addressed. These impacts included the amount of land needed for solar panels and the extent of mining for critical minerals. Together with fellow scientists at World Wildlife Fund and Boston Consulting Group, I examined the total global impacts of a scenario in which the world achieves a rapid renewable-energy transition and successfully holds warming below the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Let’s cut through the noise and see if we can arrive at some useful truths. Climate Change Conference, or COP28, starting in just a few days. While all development entails tradeoffs, and striving to minimize impacts to communities and nature is critical as we build out renewable energy systems, is it really true that the clean energy transition will harm the planet? That narrative could dilute commitment and delay progress right when leaders need to be doubling down on climate commitments at the 2023 U.N. Articles highlight how the renewable transition will trigger dramatic increases in mining for various metals, prompting essays that question whether electric vehicles are really any better for Mother Earth than our traditional fossil-burning ones (for example, “ will your electric car save the world or wreck it?”). National and local media now frequently feature stories of conflict about the land required for wind and solar projects. However, a new narrative has emerged that threatens to derail progress toward that solution: a growing belief that a rapid transition to a renewable energy system-the very heart of the global plan to stabilize our climate-will itself inflict serious damage to the planet. And with renewable energy projects and electric vehicles sales also surging, the path toward a solution has never been clearer. As floods, fires, and heatwaves surge to unprecedented levels, the need for ambitious climate action has never been greater.
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