Energy Task Force
The CMS Energy Task Force is a multi-stakeholder platform that works towards reconciling renewable energy developments with the conservation of migratory species.
Global energy demand is set to increase 30% by 2040. Meeting this demand while preventing global average temperature rise from exceeding 1.50C above pre-industrial levels ─ the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the IPCC ─ requires a substantial increase in the generation of renewable energy.
Deploying renewable energy instead of exploiting fossil fuels can benefit migratory species by helping to mitigate climate change. However, as with other infrastructure developments, the deployment of energy infrastructure can negatively impact species and their habitats when poorly planned.
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) recognise the need to integrate the conservation of migratory species across the energy sector and have adopted a number of resolutions and guidelines to this end. The CMS Energy Task Force was established in 2015 in accordance with Resolution 11.27 (Rev. COP13) Renewable Energy and Migratory Species to support the implementation of these resolutions and the use of relevant guidelines.
The CMS Energy Task Force brings together governments, multilateral environmental agreements, investors, the private sector and non-governmental organizations with an aim of avoiding and minimising negative impacts of energy developments on migratory species. We work to:
- promote and develop guidance and tools for the sustainable deployment or retrofitting of renewable energy technologies and powerlines,
- exchange and disseminate best practices for deploying energy infrastructure,
- provide recommendations on how best to respond to specific problems,
- deliver research to address knowledge gaps.
The CMS Energy Task Force is coordinated by BirdLife International. For more information, please contact Ms. Manoswini Sarkar at [email protected]
This activity has been kindly sponsored by the German Government, through the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).
- List of Members
MEMBERS OF THE ENERGY TASK FORCE
Countries Australia Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Ms. Narelle Montgomery
Ms. Kerri Woodcock
Dr. Mark Carey
Brazil National Center for Bird Conservation and Research (CEMAVE) / Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) / Ministry of Environment of Brazil (MMA) Dr. Patricia Serafini
Mr. Marcos de Souza Fialho
Mr. André Luiz Campos de Andrade
Bulgaria Ministry of Environment and Water Ms. Rodostina Galitionova Cyprus Game & Fauna Services (GFS), Ministry of Interior Mr. Panicos Panayides
Mr. Haris Hadjistyllis
Egypt Ministry of Environment Mr. Osama Ahmed Moustafa El-Gebaly New & Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) Mr. Mohamed Al-Khayat Ethiopia Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority Mr. Mihret Ewnetu Mulualem France Ministère de la transition écologique et solidaire Mr. Michel Perret Germany Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Ms. Berit Gewert Ghana Forestry Commission/Wildlife Division Mr. Bernard Asamoah Boateng
Mr. Musa Abu JuamGreece Ministry of Environment and Energy, General Secretariat of Natural Environment and Water Dr. Charalampos Ververis Hungary Ministry of Agriculture Mr. András Schmidt Israel Israel Nature and Parks Authority Mr. Noam Leader Jordan Ministry of Environment Eng. Raed Bani Hani Kenya Ministry of Environment Mr. Stephen M. Manegene Morocco High Commission for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification Ms. Samira Ouhabi
Ms. Latifa Sikli
New Zealand Department of Conservation Ms. Malene Felsing
Ms. Alexandra Macdonald
Mr. Graeme Taylor
Nigeria Ministry of Environment Ms. Hadiza Elayo
Mr. Ayuba Turman BakutSaudi Arabia National Center for Wildlife (NCW) Pr. Mohammad Shobrak
Mr. Fawaz AlbaroudiSouth Africa Ministry of Environment Ms. Mashienyane Portia Makitla Spain Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) Dr. Borja Heredia Government Agencies Power Africa -USAID Ms. Laurel Russell U.S. Geological Survey Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center Dr. James (Jay) Diffendorfer Intergovernmental Organizations African Union Mr. Rashid Ali Abdallah
Dr. Haruna Kachalla GujbaAEWA Secretariat Dr. Jacques Trouvilliez
Mr. Sergey DerelievAEWA Technical Committee Ms. Maria Dias ASCOBANS Ms. Jenny Renell CMS Secretariat Dr. Iván Ramírez CMS Raptors MOU Coordinating Unit Dr. Umberto Gallo-Orsi East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership Ms. Jennifer George
Ms. Kyle Esperanza Zuleta
EUROBATS Secretariat Mr. Andreas Streit
Dr. Christian Voigt
CBD Secretariat Mr. Tristan Tyrrell IRENA Dr. Ute Collier Ramsar Convention Secretariat Ms. Maria Rivera International Financial Institutions African Development Bank Mr. Issa Maman-Sani Mr. Osric Tening Forton Asian Development Bank (ADB) Mr. Duncan Lang
Ms. Beatrice Gomez
European Bank of Reconstruction and Development Mr. Robert Adamczyk International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group Ms. Maria Estella Nucci U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Dr. Alicia De la Cruz-Novey
Dr. Jennifer Balachowski
World Bank Mr. Peter Moore
Ms. Ruth Tiffer- Sotomayor
Other Organizations African Sustainable Energy Association Mr. Chris Edeh BirdLife International Ms. Cathy Yitong Li
Ms. Manoswini Sarkar
Mr. Tris Allinson
British Trust for Ornithology Dr. James Pearce-Higgins
Mr. Chris ThaxterEndangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Mr. Willem Constantyn Hoogstad
Mr. Oscar Mohale
Renewables Grid Initiative Mr. Liam Innis
Ms. Manon Quetstroey
WindEurope Mr. Mattia Cecchinato
- List of Observers
OBSERVERS
American Bird Conservancy (ABC) Dr. David A. Wiedenfeld
Mr. Lewis Grove
Association for Bat Conservation Tragus Dr. Mirna Mazija
Mr. Stjepan Renje
Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) Ms. Vera Voronova BankWatch Mr. Andrey Ralev
Mr. Dato Chipashvili
BirdLife South Africa Ms. Samantha Ralston Paton
Mr. John Gibbs
Central Asia Conservation Network (CACN) Ms. Katherine Hall
Dr. Ramesh Kumar Selvaraj
China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation Dr. Zhou Jinfeng
Ms. Linda Wong
Eco Foundation Global Ms. Xiaofang Kang
Mr. Alex Hai Zhang
Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society Mr. Mengistu Wondafrash
Mr. Mekonnen Biru
EuroNatur Dr. Stefan Ferger
Ms. Ilka Beermann
Dr. Justine Vansynghel
Fauna and Flora Ms. Catherine Weller
Mr. José Rubio
Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks (GBatNet) Dr. Winifred Frick
Dr. Tigga Kingston
Groupe de Recherche pour la Protection des Oiseaux au Maroc (GREPOM/BirdLife Morocco) Ms. Khadija Bourass
Mr. Mohammed Ameziane
Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) Mr. Tsiopelas Nikos Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Dr. Rodrigo Medellin International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) Mr. Janusz Sielicki International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Dr. Rachel Asante-Owusu
Dr. Qiulin Liu
Dr. Mimi Kessler
Dr. Rainer Raab
IUCN - Mediterranean Center Ms. Catherine Numa
Ms. Helena Clavero
International Whaling Commission (IWC) Dr. Iain Staniland
Dr. Imogen Webster
Macedonian Ecological Society (MES) Ms. Danka Uzunova Manomet Conservation Sciences Dr. Juliana Bosi de Almeida
Mr. Diego Luna Quevedo
Nature Iraq Mr. Korsh Ararat
Mr. Laith Ali
Nature Kenya Dr. Paul Matiku
Ms. Serah Munguti
Mr. Paul GacheruNature Conservation Egypt (NCE) Mr. Khaled El Noby Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Ms. Carla Freund
Mr. Steffen Laube
ORÉE Ms. Hélène Leriche
Ms. Lisa Devignol
Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) Mr. Ali Mahmoud Khazma
Dr. Jauad El Kharraz
Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute (REWI) Dr. Shilo K. Felton
Dr. Eric Schauber
The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan (RSCN) Mr. Tareq Qaneer The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Mr. Samuel Gregory-Manning Sociedad Española de Ornitología (SEO/BirdLife) Mr. Juan Carlos Atienza Sociedade para Conservação das Aves do Brasil (SAVE-Brasil) Ms. Raquel Cavalho Society for Nature Conservation - SABUKO Mr. Irakli Matcharashvili
Mr. Tornike Bubashvili
Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) Ms. Bassima Khatib
Mr. Elie El Haddad
South African Bat Assessment Association (SABAA) Ms. Eleanor Richardson
Dr. Caroline Lötter
UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) Ms. Grace Chandler
Dr. Sebastian Dunnett
Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF) Dr. José Tavares
Mr. Jovan Andesvski
- Key Documents
EFT Documents:
Key Resolutions:
- Renewable energy and migratory species [UNEP/CMS/Resolution 11.27 (Rev.COP13)]
- Addressing impacts of renewable energy deployment on migratory waterbirds [UNEP/AEWA/Resolution 6.11]
- Power lines and migratory birds [UNEP/CMS/Resolution 10.11 (Rev.COP13)]
- Power lines and migratory waterbirds [UNEP/AEWA/Resolution 5.11]
- Resources
Studies/Publications
- Bird Curtailment in Offshore Wind Farms: Towards a Coherent sea-basin Approach to Mitigate Collision Risk for Birds
- Recommendations to improve Maritime Spatial Planning to reach European climate, energy and biodiversity targets
- Recommendations to ensure nature-friendly offshore wind and grid development with robust and timely Maritime Spatial Planning
- OCEaN Statement on ecological criteria in offshore wind farm auctions
- How Offshore Wind Impacts Seabirds
- Infographic on Nature Inclusive Design: Options for Offshore Wind Farms and Grid Infrastructure
- What are governments doing to reconcile the deployment of renewable energy and powerlines with the conservation of migratory species of wild animals?
- Biodiversité intégrée dans les territoires et les politiques/The LIFE BTP project "Biodiversity integrated into territories and policies"
Wind Turbines:
- Thaxter et al 2017 Bird and bat global vulnerability to collision mortality at wind farms
- Wildlife and wind farms: Conflicts and solutions
- Assessing the impacts of wind farms on birds
- Reconciling biodiversity conservation and widespread deployment of renewable energy technologies in the UK
- Windfarms and birds : An analysis of the effects of windfarms on birds, and guidance on environmental assessment criteria and site selection issues
- Assessing the cumulative exposure of wildlife to offshore wind energy development
- Assessing vulnerability of marine bird populations to offshore wind farms
- Wind turbine interactions with wildlife and their habitats
- Fatalities at wind turbines may threaten population viability of a migratory bat
Power Lines:
- The state of the art in raptor electrocution research: A global review
- Bird collisions with power lines: State of the art and priority areas for research
- Bird collisions with power lines: Prioritizing species and areas by estimating potential population‐level impacts
- Using risk prediction models and species sensitivity maps for large-scale identification of infrastructure-related wildlife protection areas: The case of bird electrocution
- Bird on the wire: Landscape planning considering costs and benefits for bird populations coexisting with power lines
- Avian collisions with power lines: a global review of causes and mitigation with a South African perspective
- Policy measures to address bird interactions with power lines – a comparative case study of four countries
- Birds and power lines: From conflict to solution
- Quick guidance preventing electrocution on birds
- Better utilisation and transparency of bird data collected by powerline companies
- Guidelines for preventing and mitigating wildlife mortality associated with electricity distribution networks
- Avian-Power Line Collision: Overview of Risk Factors & Effectiveness of Wire Markers - Methodology Report
- Avian-Power Line Collision: Overview of Risk Factors & Effectiveness of Wire Markers - Brochure (Translated to German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek)
- Key Principles for a Bird-Friendly Electricity Grid, from the conservation community (Translated to French, German, Greek and Albanian)
- Shared Airspace brochure (Translated into German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese and Greek)
Case studies:
- Powerlines and Bird Reporting Portal – Germany
- Retrofitting Powerlines for Saker Falcons in Mongolia
- Towards bird-friendly powerlines in Egypt
- Regional wind farm planning in Jordan
- Strategic environmental assessment in Kenya
- Mainstreaming best practice guidelines for assessing and monitoring impacts on birds at wind energy facilities in South Africa
- Bridging the science-implementation gap – South Africa
Guidelines:
- Post-construction Bird and Bat Fatality Monitoring for Onshore Wind Energy Facilities in Emerging Market Countries
- Sustainable deployment of renewable energy technologies and power lines: Avoiding and mitigating negative impacts on biodiversity
- Renewable energy technologies and migratory species: Guidelines for sustainable deployment [UNEP/CMS/COP11/Doc.23.4.3.2]
- Guidelines on how to avoid or mitigate impact of electricity power grids on migratory birds in the African-Eurasian region [Technical Series / CMS 29 / AEWA 50 / CMS Raptors MOU 3]
- Guidelines for consideration of bats in wind farm projects [EUROBATS Publication Series No. 6]
- Guidance on energy transmission infrastructure and EU nature legislation
- BirdLife International: Renewable energy and safeguard policies
- Mitigating biodiversity impacts associated with solar and wind energy development: guidelines for project developers
- Guidelines for best practice on mitigating impacts of infrastructure development and afforestation on the Great Bustard
- Impacts of Powerlines on Birds and Appropriate Mitigation Measures
- Guidance on biodiversity cumulative impact assessment for wind and solar developments and associated infrastructure
- Spatial planning for wind and solar developments and associated infrastructure
- Opportunities for enhancing biodiversity at wind and solar energy developments
- Biodiversity and responsible sourcing for wind and solar developments
- Integrated Vegetation Management: Best Practices from across Europe
- Events
- Mitigating Renewable Energy Impacts in the Americas, ETF Webinar, March 2026
- UNFCCC SB62 Nature Positive Energy Transition Dialogue
- Energy Developments and Migratory Bird, ETF Webinar, September 2022
- Side Event at the BirdLife CMS Middle East North Africa Climate Week, March 2022
- Side Event "Renewable energy with nature at its core" at the UNFCCC COP26, November 2021
- ETF Webinar, December 2020
- Business Centre
- Media Centre
- ETF Webinar: Offshore wind: new developments and lessons learned (Oct. 2022)
- ETF Webinar: Energy Developments and Migratory Birds in the Americas (Oct. 2022)
- ETF webinar, December 2020
- 100 Days until the UN conference on migratory species starts in India
- BirdLife South Africa halts plans for dangerous wind farm
- Location, location, location: how to reduce bird collisions
- Partners come together to discuss plans for the Migratory Soaring Birds Project
Disclaimer: The advertisements displayed before the start of the video are related to the video itself and are not related the CMS Secretariat.
Useful Links
- Meetings
- 8th ETF Meeting, Virtual Meeting, September 2025
- 7th ETF Meeting, Madrid, Spain, April 2024
- ETF Interim Meeting, Virtual Meeting, October 2023
- 6th ETF Meeting, Virtual Meeting, February 2022
- 5th ETF Meeting, Virtual Meeting, November 2020
- ETF Virtual Meeting, August 2020
- 4th ETF Meeting, Paris, France, September 2019
- 3rd ETF Meeting, Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, November 2018
- 2nd ETF Meeting, Bonn, Germany
- 1st ETF Meeting, Cape Town, South Africa
- Fact Sheets
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change were recognized as Champion Plus for their generous support and commitment towards Making energy safe for wildlife for the period 2020-2023. The operations of the Energy Task Force have been funded with the contribution granted by India under the Migratory Species Champion Programme.
