Joseph Kiesecker
Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Joseph Kiesecker is Lead Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest environmental organization. He is a recognized scientific leader in energy siting and mitigation and his work has changed the way governments and industry respond to environmental impacts from development. He has also been at the forefront of recognizing that as we transition to renewable energy, we must advance smarter approaches for development and the environment, so that meeting climate goals does not come at the expense of human development or healthy lands and waters. He documents these approaches in a recent book “Energy Sprawl Solutions: Balancing Global Development and Conservation”. He has published over 200 articles, on topics ranging from climate change to the effectiveness of conservation strategies; examples of his work have been published in Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Conservation Biology, Ecology and American Scientist. Prior to joining the Conservancy, he was a professor at Penn State University and has also held faculty appointments at Yale University and the University of Wyoming.
Abstract:
The significance of renewable energy in achieving necessary reductions in emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is widely acknowledged. However, there is growing concern over the allocation of land for constructing the required new infrastructure. Nowhere is this conflict more apparent than in many of our top emitting countries, where renewable energy targets are ambitious and land use conflicts are already significant. Although renewable energy can provide the solution to both the World’s growing need for cheap energy and climate change mitigation, the sustainable future of renewable energy deployment is far from simple due to its associated land use impacts and socio-ecological risk. While others have highlighted challenges to renewable energy targets, here I will focus on the land use change issues that will need to be addressed for the world to meet its targets. I will introduce a series of recommendations and highlight how these could contribute to mainstreaming land values and facilitate the implementation of 2030 renewable energy targets. These recommendations include suggested planning approaches that would guide the development of standard siting guidelines, identification of preferential “go-to” areas for renewable energy, and the development of tools that allow access to data and information to site renewable right. Key recommendations highlight utilizing converted lands and existing built infrastructure for renewable energy development, and adapting existing policies so they address land use impacts.
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