RESTON, Va. — The National Wildlife Federation urged policymakers and industry stakeholders in three separate new policy resolutions to responsibly manage the needed expansion of clean energy deployment while ensuring the buildout conserves natural resources and avoids harm to people and wildlife, while meeting climate goals.

The resolutions, adopted by the National Wildlife Federation and its 52 state and territorial affiliates at its 87th Annual Meeting, call for responsible development of offshore wind and solar energy while stressing the importance of limiting harms and impacts from a clean energy transition and deepening collaboration with Tribal partners and impacted communities. Resolutions also called for a holistic approach to sustainability in the clean energy supply chain.

“The National Wildlife Federation calls for plans for mitigating climate change – in addition to technology-based and natural climate solutions – to include early adoption of resource conservation-based solutions that aim to reduce current and expected increases in demand for clean energy and natural resources used in energy generation and deployment, and energy consumption in all economic sectors,” the resolution reads.

Recommendations for limiting impacts from the transition include environmentally and socially responsible sourcing of the critical minerals used in clean energy, improved recycling of those critical minerals, and more research and development in the critical minerals sector.

The National Wildlife Federation’s 52 state and territorial affiliates also adopted several other resolutions calling for:

• Increased investments in environmental justice and systemic approaches that address the root causes of harm that threaten our habitats, our wildlife, and our communities.
• Reaffirmation of the Federation’s commitment to collaborating with Tribal partners, including incorporating Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, Tribal traditional knowledge and cultural values, and an equitable, collaborative management approach to conservation.
• Protecting and enhancing revenue from hunting and fishing taxes for the restoration and conservation of fish and wildlife resources.
• Increasing research and funding of biological control against invasive insects and weeds in Hawai’i.
• Designation of the Pacific Remote Islands as a National Marine Sanctuary.

The National Wildlife Federation’s affiliates lead critical wildlife conservation efforts in their states and territories and pass policy resolutions each year that guide the National Wildlife Federation’s work.