Scale socially just, ecologically safe and regenerative RE

The Challenge

The rise of renewable energy has brought great hope for our ability to tackle the climate emergency. Scaling renewables is essential for a rapid decarbonisation of the energy system, and it has the potential to deliver positive outcomes across multiple spheres, from expanding access to affordable and clean energy, job creation, to improving the health of people and the planet.

While renewables are markedly preferable to fossil fuel-derived energy, are renewables inherently benign? There is a genuine risk that in the rush to deploy renewables they may be scaled in a way that does not account for their environmental, social, and human rights risks. For instance, existing land uses such as agriculture may be altered with the installation of utility-scale solar, affecting livelihoods and biodiversity.

Without adequate planning, safeguards, and mitigation measures, the scaling of renewable energy is likely to lead to greater incidence of adverse impacts. Existing business practices and laws and regulations in many regions of the world need to be fit-for-purpose to enable renewable energy to reach its fullest potential.

Our Approach

Forum for the Future works with change actors across the renewable energy system – developers, financiers, buyers and manufacturers, civil society and community actors to scale renewable energy in ways that are socially just, ecologically safe and regenerative. Forum does this by enabling renewable energy actors to:

Co-create a common vision for renewable energy to reach its full potential beyond just decarbonisation;
Define the necessary conditions that must be met in order for the development and use of renewable energy to be considered just and regenerative, and support actors deploy such practices and solutions.
Shape an industry-wide shift towards the need for safe and just renewable energy, and adopt business models and behaviours that contribute towards a just energy transition.

Examples of Our Work

The Responsible Energy Initiative (REI) is a multi-year programme designed to ensure utility-scale renewable energy in Asia achieves its full potential and creates value in a way that is ecologically safe, rights-respecting and socially just.

REI India: the first country inquiry launched in 2021 is driving collaborative action with industry stakeholders to define, adopt and demonstrate responsible energy practices; cultivate people-centric business models; and accelerate circular renewable energy value chains.
REI Philippines: the second inquiry launched in 2023, is bringing together a group of renewable energy industry actors to identify interventions and act on developing a responsible renewable energy sector in the Philippines.

What Our Partners Say

"As the renewables sector grows exponentially, fueled by an urgent need to meet peoples' energy needs, cost effectively and address the planet's climate emergency, it is essential that the RE sector and its allied industries act responsibly. We all need to act in ways that address energy equity, participatory governance, protect the livelihoods and ecosystems of places where RE is sited, and ensure that the full lifecycle of the RE system is safe and secure,” Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Get in Touch

Reach out to Saksham Nijhawan, India Energy Transition Lead, if you’d like to get involved in our work on safe and just renewables.

Latest

Can hydrogen bring about true transformation of our energy systems?

Growing interest in hydrogen’s potential as an alternative to fossil fuels has been rising. But does hydrogen, as an energy carrier, support our most hopeful imaginations? In this blog we examine whether hydrogen's development and deployment represent innovation or familiarity.
Project Funding Finance and Operations Manager
Advancing climate justice: A call to action for businesses

Explore the insights from The Business Guide to Advancing Climate Justice, co-published by Forum for the Future and B Lab U.S. and Canada, with reflections from Ksenia Benifand, American Climate Futures’ Program Director.
Shape Just Transition Pathways

There are a multitude of decarbonisation solutions and many technically possible pathways to achieving net-zero, but there is a risk that some pathways will be incremental and others may perpetuate harm to people and the planet. We enable change actors in the energy system to navigate the evolving energy landscape that is being driven by innovation in energy technologies, business models and government policy.

The Five Capitals - a framework for sustainability

The Five Capitals Model provides a basis for understanding sustainability in terms of the economic concept of wealth creation or ‘capital’. Any organisation will use five types of capital to deliver its products or services. A sustainable organisation will maintain and where possible enhance these stocks of capital assets, rather than deplete or degrade them.
Jobs

We are a growing organisation and we are regularly on the look out for new recruits to join our teams around the world.
For a just and regenerative future

Forum for the Future is a leading international sustainability organisation running out of offices in the UK, US, India and Singapore.
Growing our Future US

Working together to accelerate the transition to a just and regenerative agriculture system in the United States.
Sustainability and system change

Climate change, malnutrition, inequality, poverty, ecological degradation. The global challenges we face are so urgent and tricky that we need a solution to match their scale and complexity. This is where system change comes in. We use systems thinking to understand the web of interrelations that create complex problems, anticipate unintended consequences, and identify how and where to take action to meet the SDG goals.
What is Net Positive?

We reinvent strategies for a 1.5°C world. Our Net Positive approach helps business put back more into society and environment than it takes out. Unilever’s pioneering commitment to eliminate fossil fuels from its operations and directly support the generation of more renewable energy than they consume was driven behind the scenes by Forum.
Transport or Mobility: What’s the difference and why does it matter?

Recently, the word transportation is being replaced with mobility. Why is this happening? What’s the difference between them? And why should we care about this change?
Become a system change agent

Learn more about upcoming system change programmes and express your interest.
6 ways Unilever has achieved success through sustainability - and how your business can too

A year ago this week, Unilever launched its Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), one of the most ambitious strategies that a global company has ever embarked on. Pioneering a bold new business model, the company pledged to double in size at the same time as halving its environmental footprint.
Transforming the Purpose of Business

More and more businesses like are setting ambitious targets for positive impact on their operations, value chains and wider operating context. For more than 25 years we have partnered with businesses to navigate this complexity and design impactful solutions that deliver the deeper change that’s needed. Why not get in touch to find out more?