Sustainability Community

An interesting chart which was pointed out to me was on how wind turbines kill far fewer birds than other hazards.

There is huge debate on the negative impacts turbines have on the environment, one specifically being on the number of birds that are killed by the blades.

Whilst yes, there are still a lot of birds that are killed by the spinning blades, there are several more severe hazards out there killing birds.

A thought for discussion when analysing the Biodiversity impact of a wind blade manufacturer!

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Francesca Wheble
Responsible Investment Analyst
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Hi Francesca great to see consequential issues being discussed would love to know if the article/paper digs deeper than headline numbers.    For Biodiversity impact there are a few key contextual questions I'd ask to kick off.

1. In context how many of the death dealing items are there?  i.e. Deaths per Turbine or per car,cat,building etc..
2. Biodiversity is also a local issue so a geolocated mapping of where deaths occur.  A plethera of other factors could also be explored to mitigate death dealing.  I recall when I was young people used to put a collar with a bell on pet cats to mitigate their stalking capabilities.
3. Biodiversity is also about diversity so the species specific data mapped againt endangerment. Then on a local basis migration route impact or locations close to breeding or feeding locations for  flocks. Do hotspots of death dealing prompt behaviour change.

Final thought would be to monitor Biodiversity impact in practice to better inform environmental Impact Studies in the future so their purpose of mitigating or eliminating Nature damage can improve.  Perhaps a liability on Wind Farms to take action to mitigate any unintended impacts caused by their installation.

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David Manuel
Partner
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2023 16:50
From: Francesca Wheble
Subject: What is the harm of wind turbines...?

An interesting chart which was pointed out to me was on how wind turbines kill far fewer birds than other hazards.

There is huge debate on the negative impacts turbines have on the environment, one specifically being on the number of birds that are killed by the blades.

Whilst yes, there are still a lot of birds that are killed by the spinning blades, there are several more severe hazards out there killing birds.

A thought for discussion when analysing the Biodiversity impact of a wind blade manufacturer!

------------------------------
Francesca Wheble
Responsible Investment Analyst
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I think that this would be far more useful if it also showed birds killed by oil rigs, FF power generation, nodding donkeys and the like. (How one collects the data is a totally different question.) I think it's unfair to make us all choose between wind turbines and cats.

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Nicholas Blain
Chief executive
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-08-2023 16:50
From: Francesca Wheble
Subject: What is the harm of wind turbines...?

An interesting chart which was pointed out to me was on how wind turbines kill far fewer birds than other hazards.

There is huge debate on the negative impacts turbines have on the environment, one specifically being on the number of birds that are killed by the blades.

Whilst yes, there are still a lot of birds that are killed by the spinning blades, there are several more severe hazards out there killing birds.

A thought for discussion when analysing the Biodiversity impact of a wind blade manufacturer!

------------------------------
Francesca Wheble
Responsible Investment Analyst
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