April 21, 2026
New science shows that integrated solutions are necessary to meet climate, food and biodiversity goals
ARLINGTON, Va. (April 21, 2026) – A new study, published Nature Communications, shows that strategic land-use planning would enable progress toward global biodiversity, climate and sustainable development goals simultaneously. It finds that, if an integrated method for land-use planning is employed, future land development would impact 15% fewer species and cut carbon loss by 19%.
The study provides a framework for multi-sector land-use planning that considers the often overlapping needs of nature conservation, agriculture and renewable energy. The paper maps these needs around the world, finding that the places needed to meet targets for protected land and productive land frequently intersect.
“There’s a tendency to think that development and conservation inevitably conflict, but that’s largely because we plan in silos,” said Patrick Roehrdanz, study author and Director of Climate Change and Biodiversity at Conservation International. “When we use a multi-sector approach to land allocation across sustainable development goals, we see that most important areas for nature can be conserved while still leaving room for development – and importantly we can also identify areas where priorities for nature and development do overlap.”
Achieving global climate goals while meeting growing demand for food will likely result in more land for both renewable energy infrastructure and farming. However, if global biodiversity goals are also to be met, the allocation of these lands cannot come at the expense of nature.
“Both renewable energy and natural climate solutions play critical roles in fighting climate change. But clean energy projects still use land, and if they’re built without considering nature, they can add pressure on wildlife and ecosystems – which undermine the effectiveness of natural climate solutions as well as biodiversity goals. Our study shows that better coordination can reduce those conflicts and allow both goals to succeed,” said Roehrdanz.
The study finds that, if future development is planned without considering nature and the benefits it provides to humanity, land demands for renewable energy and agriculture could impact nearly 1 million square kilometers of high-priority conservation areas, including the habitats of 440 threatened species and 21 gigatons of needed carbon stocks. It would also result in insufficient land availability to achieve conservation and development targets. This could be avoided with proactive and data-informed planning.
If development planning is coordinated and collaborative, impacts on nature can be significantly reduced. This approach would reduce the potential number of species displaced by 15% and the amount of carbon lost by 19%.
“With finite land available, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises requires a large focus on land-use planning. Expanding food and energy development often leads to loss of nature, but we can do better,” said Cameryn Brock, the study’s lead author and a research scientist at Conservation International at the time of the study. “Our analysis shows that a meaningful portion of these impacts can be reduced through coordinated planning.”
Country-level data, restoration commitments, and local and Indigenous input strengthen this type of multi-sector planning and lower the potential for carbon or nature loss, according to the study. Alongside local data and perspectives, the framework is designed to be applicable regionally and nationally.
“The paper demonstrates a practical, scalable approach to multi-objective land-use planning,” said Brock. “Our intention is that this framework can be a useful tool for governments, companies and other decisionmakers.”
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ADDITIONAL QUOTES FOR EDITORIAL USE
"This study goes beyond threatened species and carbon stocks; it examines the full range of ways nature supports people. Water quality, pollination, coastal protection, and access to nature all depend on how we allocate land. Our findings show that coordinated planning consistently outperforms sector-by-sector decision-making at safeguarding these benefits for communities around the world,” said Becky Chaplin-Kramer, a study author and Global Biodiversity Lead Scientist at World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
“This work reframes the climate-biodiversity debate. Renewable energy is essential for decarbonization, but it is not impact-free. Wind, solar, hydropower, and bioenergy all require land. If these are developed and placed without ecological coordination, climate mitigation can intensify biodiversity loss via loss of land area. This work demonstrates that integrated planning is needed to reduce that risk,” said Brian Enquist, a study author and Professor at the University of Arizona.
"Given competing demands for land for food, renewable energy, and conservation, it's essential to plan carefully otherwise, as a society, we might succeed at one set of goals (say, achieving climate targets) but at the cost of other goals, such as biodiversity or food security. The maps in this paper can help decision-makers make informed choices about how to allocate one of our scarcest resources--land--and to reduce trade-offs as much as possible,” said Dr. Rachel Neugarten, a study author and Executive Director, Conservation Planning for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
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About Conservation International: Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, for biodiversity and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together. Go to Conservation.org for more, and follow our work on Conservation News, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.