Priority areas for conservation alone are not a good proxy for predicting the impact of renewable energy expansion

There is broad consensus that increasing the use of renewable energies is effective to mitigate the global climate crisis. However, the development of renewables may carry environmental impacts, and their expansion could accelerate biodiversity loss (1). However, Dunnett et al. (2) have recently estimated a minimal overlap between renewable energy expansion and important conservation areas (ICAs;i.e., protected areas, key biodiversity areas, wilderness areas) (sensu ref. 2), suggesting that these infrastructures would not significantly affect biodiversity conservation if properly planned and regulated.Peer reviewe