Solar Farms: Biodiversity, Birds and the Bees
Climate change and biodiversity degradation are two of the most complex and interwoven challenges that we face in today’s world. The global decline of biodiversity is contributing to the acceleration of climate change, as we are seeing rapid loss in natural carbon sinks. Today is Biodiversity Day at COP27, which will focus on bridging the gap between climate and biodiversity through bold leadership, creating synergies, and sharing best strategies for action.
Alongside supporting the decarbonisation of the world’s energy landscape, Lightsource bp are taking action to boost biodiversity by protecting, enhancing, and stewarding lands at our solar farms. As ground-mounted solar is typically in place for over 20 years and less than 2% of land being disrupted by infrastructure, they are areas that provide a huge opportunity for local ecosystems to thrive, enhance habitat creation, and improve soil regeneration.
Lightsource bp aims to deliver a biodiversity net gain (BNG) on our operating assets, measured 5+ years post-construction. To support this initiative we will develop a biodiversity management plan for Lightsource bp developed projects. A BMP outlines measures to mitigate biodiversity impacts, ways to enhance beneficial habitats, as well as agricultural multi use such as sheep grazing and bee keeping (“agrivoltaics”), and sets out an ongoing monitoring and reporting regime.
As a business, we’re committed to delivering responsible solar via our sustainability report, and supporting biodiversity across all our projects is a fundamental part of this, underpinned by our biodiversity policy.
We are proud of all of the work we are doing around biodiversity, and the statistics below reflect the on-going commitment we hold going beyond business as usual:
Related news & insights
05 Jul, 2024
Sharing knowledge and charting the path for the future of solar – Lightsource bp Q2 2024 events wrap up
Lightsource bp’s teams have been on the road throughout the second quarter of 2024, take a look at what they've been up too.
03 Jul, 2024
Zosia Riesner discusses Lightsource bp’s partnerships and shares power market insights on NPM Europe’s podcast
Zosia Riesner, Lightsource bp Director of Power Markets for Europe, appeared on the Interconnections podcast to share insights on the continent’s power market.
28 Jun, 2024
Lightsource bp global legal team ‘Highly Commended’ at The Lawyer Awards 2024
Lightsource bp’s global legal team was highly commended for ‘In-house commerce and industry team of the year’ at The Lawyer Awards 2024.