Avoiding a conflict between biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation under increased expectations of renewables

Climate change and biodiversity loss are the most pressing issues of the Anthropocene, and form part of a polycrisis. While scientific circles have recognized these two challenges as interrelated problems, policy-making has largely approached them as isolated domains and at best, assumed that they could be tackled simultaneously. The challenge of the transition to carbon-neutral and ecosystem-enhancing economies is only gradually becoming the focus of attention. In this piece we highlight the development of renewable energy in the EU as a site of tension between climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation goals. We demonstrate how the policy is approaching it and critically reflect on the process in the context of attempts at designing a synergistic approach. Our case study is Slovenia’s development of renewable energy since 2018, which is reflective of the EU’s growing ambitions for decarbonization and more recently, also increased ambitions for energy security / independence. We review the factors that impact on the growing tension between the goals of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, and legislative and policy instruments designed to address this tension in the context of multilevel governance. We focus on the policy and legislative activity at the EU as well as the national level. The focus on the “trickle-down” effect of the EU regulation at the Slovenian level demonstrates that concerns over the recent legislation are justified and identifies real risks of the proposed legislation. The value of the case study is to anticipate, rather than ignore, the possibility of the collision of two interrelated goals. The study suggests methods and approaches of preventing and mitigating the conflict as alternatives to the highly controversial institute of ‘overriding public interest’ of renewable energy and degradation of the established environmental legislation.