Principles for Responsible Renewables Deployment 2025

This is a living document. The principles will evolve as the initiative grows and adapts to new insights, priorities, challenges and regional contexts . Renewable energy capacity must triple by 2030 to meet energy and climate goals. Achieving this scale at the necessary pace presents both challenges and opportunities . As renewable energy projects expand, they increasingly intersect with communities, biodiversity, and ecosystems. Without careful planning and inclusive engagement, these projects risk displacing communities, disrupting ecosystems, and undermining trust. Yet, renewable energy infrastructure can do far more than generate clean electricity. It represents a transformative opportunity for the public and private sectors to work together to ensure that the energy transition brings benefits both to people and the planet. By deploying and operating new renewable energy infrastructure with broader sustainability and social equity goals in mind, we can foster community resilience, boost local economies, create jobs, and restore ecosystems. A nature -positive approach can go beyond minimizing harm to regenerate and enhance natural systems. The Responsible Renewables Infrastructure Coalition recognizes the potential of renewable energy projects to serve as a force for positive change. To guide this, the coalition has developed the Principles of Responsible Deployment to underpin policy and business models. They provide a framework to integrate global best practices, address local priorities and build trust among stakeholders. By embedding these principles into policies and business models, the energy transition can mitigate risks, drive progress, and create benefits for businesses and communities alike, paving the way for an equitable and sustainable future. Responsible Deployment: A Vision for 2030 A responsible project is one that contributes to both community -positive and nature -positive goals. These projects balance economic viability, social equity, and environmental sustainability, delivering measurable benefits for people and nature. Public -private collaboration among all stakeholders in the renewable energy infrastructure value chain – including developers, governments, investors, civil society, and communities – is key to establishing a benchmark for sustainable development that fosters trust and shared value. Community -positive1 Adopt a partnership approach with communities by actively engaging them, jointly identifying, and addressing impacts, prioritizing harm prevention and minimization, creating shared benefits, and working together to remedy unavoidable harm Responsible Renewable Infrastructure Project Enabling Pillars Interdependent and interrelated Foundation Nature -positive 1 Sequentially apply the mitigation hierarchy by prioritizing avoidance and mitigation of negative impact on nature, contributing to the regeneration of biodiversity to ensure no net loss and strive for net gain, ideally at the site and across the portfolio Notes: (1) Definition of community -positive has been adapted from the Forum’s white paper, Better Community Engagement for a Just Energy Transition: A C- Suite Guide (2) Definition of nature- positive has been adapted from the Forum’s briefing paper, Clean Energy as a Catalyst for a Nature -Positive Transition Profitable Compliant In collaboration with Accenture Principles for Responsible Deployment of Renewable Energy Infrastructure JANUARY 2025