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: