Do renewables harm nature more than we think?

The Financial Times recently published an article entitled "We must prevent innovative climate solutions from driving biodiversity loss." The article was written by Henry Paulson, who, among other roles, served as US Treasury secretary from 2006 to 2009 and as chairman and CEO of investment bank Goldman Sachs. Paulson believes that as the trend towards building wind and solar farms grows, there will also be a significant increase in cases of uncontrolled destruction of nature. 

Although the author does not question the relevance of issues related to climate change or the need to address them as quickly and effectively as possible, he points to a less widely reported aspect of renewable energy development (RES): its negative side effect of contributing to the decline in global biodiversity. He also considers the problem of the loss of animal and plant species to be far more serious and urgent.

The basic premise is that species are disappearing much faster than would occur naturally. Paulson claims that the rate of decline is up to 1,000 times faster than the natural rate and that, if it continues at the same pace, we could lose up to half of all species by 2050.