Enabling energy transitions: A policy guide – Part V: Advancing people-centred and inclusive transition
Communities, permitting and planning
Transforming energy systems affects people, the environment and economies, and the necessary changes are often difficult socially and politically. Advancing the energy transition, consequently, can depend on whether the long-term benefits of decarbonising energy systems also translate into short-term benefits for people and communities – even if these differ from long-term climate goals. Either way, decision-making and behaviour changes need to happen without delay.
Many countries recognise inclusivity, equity and justice as fundamental pillars of an effective energy transition. Often, social support and political palatability can hinge on how the transition affects the most vulnerable parts of the population.
As evidence from global transition processes shows, whenever communities perceive a transition as imposed, inequitable, or primarily benefiting others, local and wider opposition will grow, while project deployment slows. Conversely, when people experience tangible improvements – such as lower energy costs, cleaner air and environments, local economic opportunities, or greater control over energy resources – then public support strengthens substantially. Embedding equity and justice into transition planning is therefore not only a normative goal but a pragmatic requirement for accelerating renewable energy deployment at the speed and scale needed.
Socio-economic benefits form a key part of this logic. Renewable energy and supporting infrastructure can diversify local economies, expand access to affordable electricity, and create opportunities for small enterprises and public services. However, these benefits do not materialise automatically: their distribution depends on policy choices, access to finance, and institutional design.
Transitions that reinforce existing inequalities – between rural and urban areas, between wealthy and marginalised groups, or between host communities and external developers – risk eroding trust and hindering future projects. Policies must ensure that communities participate meaningfully in decision-making, have access to information and recourse mechanisms, and capture a tangible share of the economic value generated by new energy investments. These priorities can directly shape how projects are planned, authorised and evaluated.
Robust processes for community engagement – starting early and continuing throughout project lifecycles – are essential to identify concerns, incorporate local knowledge, and strengthen social acceptance. Permitting procedures, as well as environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs), must extend beyond narrow biophysical considerations and integrate social equity, cultural impacts, and distributional outcomes. Transparent and inclusive siting and consultation processes can help mediate land-use conflicts, ensure that fragile ecosystems and vulnerable groups are protected, and enable communities to negotiate fairer benefit-sharing arrangements.
Done well, these governance mechanisms reduce risk and uncertainty for developers and authorities alike, ultimately accelerating deployment.
Finally, policies that empower communities directly – such as special incentives for community-owned projects, support for cooperatives, and models that allow local communities to invest in and profit from renewable energy assets – can substantially broaden the constituency of the energy transition. Community ownership also anchors economic value locally, reinforcing social and political resilience. However, the work needed to ensure communities benefit from the transition must start at a higher policy level.
No single instrument is sufficient on its own. Permitting rules, impact assessments, spatial planning, consultation requirements, and ownership models operate as an interconnected policy ecosystem, with weaknesses or omissions in one area undermining critical outcomes in others. Embedding equity, participation, and benefit-sharing consistently across complementary policy levers helps reduce conflict, build trust, and accelerate renewable energy deployment at scale.
Permitting and impact assessments
Permitting processes and ESIAs help drive people-centred energy transitions through early, meaningful community engagement, transparency, and mitigation of negative impacts from projects. When well designed and enforced, these tools can give affected people a forum to shape project design, protect their rights and livelihoods, and ensure that benefits and burdens are more fairly distributed across communities.
Governments must ensure that ESIAs for renewable energy projects are transparent, effective, and grounded in respect for nature and the well-being of people, including rural and indigenous communities. Robust regulatory frameworks and clear assessment procedures enable governments to balance the urgency of expanding clean energy with the responsibility to safeguard ecosystems, biodiversity, and local communities. Government leadership in the process – supported by early and meaningful stakeholder engagement – helps build public trust, prevent harm, and ensure that renewable energy development contributes to a just and sustainable future.
While robust permitting and impact assessments are essential at the project level, they are most effective when embedded within broader spatial planning frameworks that guide where renewable energy development should occur in the first place.
Permitting and ESIAs require:
- Clear legal frameworks: Effective impact assessments are grounded in well-defined national legislation that outlines the scope, process, and criteria for environmental and social review, ensuring consistency and accountability across projects.
- Early integration in project planning: Planning and impact assessments must include vulnerable communities – with a particular focus on indigenous peoples – at the earliest stages of project development, allowing potential environmental and social risks to be identified and mitigated before major siting or financing decisions are made.
- Public participation and consultation: Meaningful engagement with affected communities, including indigenous peoples, enhances legitimacy, limits damage to local livelihoods, and helps projects secure free, prior, and informed consent where relevant.
- Social and cumulative impact assessments: Evaluating effects on livelihoods, cultural heritage, health, and gender relations ensures that social dimensions are reflected alongside environmental factors. Assessing cumulative effects within a designated geographic area can capture the broader environmental and social footprint of multiple projects, reducing the risk of overexploitation or ecosystem strain.
- Mitigation and benefit-sharing plans: Strong ESIAs include actionable strategies to minimise negative impacts and create tangible local benefits, such as employment or community investments.
- Monitoring and compliance mechanisms: Ongoing monitoring and reporting help verify that mitigation measures are implemented and that unforeseen impacts are promptly addressed. Credible and transparent outcomes depend on assessments being conducted or validated by independent experts with recognised technical and socio-economic expertise.
- Transparency and data accessibility: Public access to ESIA findings, decisions, and the data from monitoring promotes trust and enables informed community participation in project oversight.
- Capacity building and institutional support: Local authorities and communities often need training, information and practical toolkits to engage meaningfully in assessment and monitoring processes.
Case study: Socially inclusive solar development at Ouarzazate, Morocco
Morocco’s Noor Ouarzazate solar complex, developed from the early 2010s, was the world’s largest CSP complex at the time, with 510 MW of CSP capacity or around 580 MW including PV.
Although costly by today’s standards, it was built amid international hopes for CSP to become a major utility-scale option, because of the technology’s thermal storage and ability to deliver dispatchable electricity after sunset. The complex was developed by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) using a public-private partnership model that has since become to the norm for structuring renewable energy investments in Morocco.
Extensive environmental and social impact assessments were conducted in cooperation with international financiers, examining local employment, community development, land acquisition, water use and ecological impacts. Based on those assessments, project plans incorporated measures to maximise local job creation, support social infrastructure, and mitigate adverse impacts on vulnerable groups.
Water use emerged as a critical concern in the arid Ouarzazate region. Noor I was built with wet cooling, which is more water-intensive, but experience from this first phase prompted a shift in technology for subsequent stages. Noor II and Noor III were required to employ dry cooling systems, significantly reducing water consumption while maintaining plant performance.
This phased approach illustrates how large flagship projects can provide technical and social lessons that inform later investment decisions and improve the environmental performance of subsequent phases.
Primary reports:
Project Document. Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet: Appraisal Stage. (Report No.: ISDSA9064). Early Warning System Database: World Bank Document. 2014.
World Bank. Morocco – Second and Third Phase of the Noor Concentrated Solar Power Project (Vol. 4 of 13): environmental report: second CSP power plant – specific environmental and social impact assessment (English). World Bank. 2015.
Secondary literature
Wuppertal Institute. Social CSP: energy and development – exploring the local livelihood dimension of the NOORo I CSP project in Southern Morocco. Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. 2015.
Power Technology. Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex. Power Technology. 2020.
Further reading
Figueroa, Maria, Cristián Flores, and Nicolás Silva. Energy Transition and Indigenous Communities in Chile: Integrating Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement and Energy Justice. Copenhagen Business School. 2024.
IAIA. Environmental/Social Impact Assessment Compliance and Enforcement: Requirements, Commitments, and Related Permits. International Association for Impact Assessment. 2023.
Renkens, Ilse. The Impact of Renewable Energy Projects on Indigenous Communities in Kenya. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). 2019.
IAIA. Best Practice Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment. International Association for Impact Assessment (in cooperation with Institute of Environmental Assessment, UK). 1999.
Spatial planning for renewables
Spatial planning for renewable energy helps decide where projects go, aiming to maximise resource potential while avoiding conflicts with communities, land uses, and ecosystems. Socially accepted, people-centred transitions are grounded in clear permitting processes and rigorous ESIAs, which ensure that projects anticipate and manage any impact on livelihoods, health, and local environments rather than shifting such burdens onto vulnerable groups.
Together, these tools ensure transparency, enable early community participation, and build trust, making the transition not just faster but fairer and more responsive to local needs and rights. Robust spatial planning, by coordinating renewable energy deployment with other activities and sectors (e.g. transport, agriculture), reduces conflicts, shortens permitting processes, and lowers investment risk.
Even where suitable areas for renewable energy development are identified through spatial planning, project siting decisions ultimately intersect with local land rights and livelihoods, necessitating community consent. Early inclusion and consultations can help avoid later conflict and project delays, as well as reducing investment risk. Similar considerations may apply for offshore projects, which affect maritime ecosystems and can also damage related community livelihoods.
Key elements of spatial planning include:
- Geospatial planning: National geospatial planning frameworks and geospatial mapping allow planners to identify and zone the most suitable areas for renewable energy resource development.
- National land-use, planning and zoning laws: Land-use and zoning laws – drafted collaboratively by relevant national, sub-national and local government departments in consultation with local communities and indigenous peoples – can designate priority or “acceleration” areas for renewables, based on coordinated spatial mapping that considers resource quality, environmental impacts and constraints, priority areas for conservation, and social impacts.
- Siting and permitting: Clear, streamlined permitting and environmental assessment procedures can ensure alignment with spatial plans, set time limits, and use digital one-stop shops to reduce uncertainty while maintaining robust environmental and social safeguards.
- Requirements for early public participation and consultation: Spatial planning processes can enable affected communities to influence where and how renewable projects are developed from the outset.
- Priority on dual-use areas: Spatial planning policies can prioritise the use of artificial, degraded, or dual-use areas (e.g. rooftops, brownfields, agrivoltaics) for renewable energy deployment, thereby reducing land-use conflicts and protecting sensitive ecosystems and livelihoods.
Case study: Spatial planning for renewables in Denmark
Denmark has established a robust spatial planning regime that supports renewable energy deployment through clear marine and landuse planning frameworks.
For landbased projects, renewable energy development is guided by Denmark’s Planning Act (Planloven), which governs national and municipal planning, requires municipalities to preselect areas for technical installations (such as wind turbines), and typically requires local plans before major projects proceed.
For offshore wind, the Act on Maritime Spatial Planning provides the framework for spatial planning in Danish marine areas. It was implemented through Denmark’s first national Maritime Spatial Plan in 2021, later amended in 2023, which designates areas for offshore renewable energy alongside other marine uses and serves as the basis for coordination among various relevant authorities.
Legislation and policy documents
Denmark. Bekendtgørelse af lov om planlægning [Consolidated Planning Act]. Consolidated Act No. 813 of 21 June 2007]. Retsinformation. 2007.
Danish Maritime Authority. Denmark’s maritime spatial plan.
Secondary literature
Van Dijk, Elise, and Laura Fernández López. Venø: Environmental and Spatial Framework for Renewable Energy Projects. Clean energy for EU islands (prepared for the European Commission). 2025.
Further reading
Krieger, Susanne, Kaya Dünzen, Jenny Gibson, and Dr Marion Wingenbach. From policy to action: Follow-up – Overview of renewable energy spatial planning and designation of acceleration areas in selected EU Member States. Oeko-Institut e.V. 2025.
Waters-Bayer, Ann, and Hussein Tadicha Wario. Pastoralism and large-scale Renewable energy and green hydrogen projects. Brot für die Welt and Heinrich Böll Stiftung. 2022.
Land Portal. Global Land Agenda: Framework for Action (F4A) – Land Tenure Security for People, Planet and Prosperity. Land Portal. 2022.
World Bank. Integrated Environmental and Social Sensitivity Mapping – Guidance for Early Offshore Wind Spatial Planning. World Bank. 2024.
Siting and consultation
Policymakers need to ensure that land-use and siting decisions for renewable energy projects are grounded in meaningful community consultation and in the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). This entails laws and procedures requiring developers to engage early and openly with affected communities, especially indigenous peoples, whose rights, lands, and livelihoods are often directly impacted by energy infrastructure.
Inclusive, culturally appropriate consultation processes are crucial to convey accessible information and enable communities to make legitimate decisions. Beyond consultation and consent, long-term social acceptance is further strengthened when communities can participate economically and share in the benefits of renewable energy projects.
Key elements to strengthen consultations on project siting include:
- Embedding FPIC in national legislation: By integrating FPIC and participatory land-use planning into renewable energy policies, governments can prevent conflict, build public trust, reduce legal risks, and promote equitable outcomes in which the benefits of the energy transition are shared with those most affected.
- Ratifying and implementing UNDRIP principles: Only people whose existence is recognised by law can be included in legally required consultations. Committing to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and incorporating its principles – especially FPIC – into national laws and renewable energy governance frameworks is a key step to strengthen inclusion and legitimacy.
- Participatory land-use planning: Inclusive project planning involves local communities and indigenous peoples in mapping, zoning, and land allocation decisions for renewable energy projects, with communities retaining the right to reject project proposals. Establishing regulations that require early-stage consultation during planning and site selection can help to achieve socially accepted and economically effective siting.
- Independent grievance and redress systems: Affected communities need a channel to raise their concerns and seek remedies related to land use, with independent mechanisms in place to mediate disputes, facilitate ongoing consultations and help mitigate conflict.
- Benefit-sharing requirements: Requiring renewable energy developers to negotiate benefit-sharing agreements – such as community investment funds or co-ownership models, as well as affordable electricity access for vulnerable local communities – can further cement support for projects.
Case study: Utility-scale solar on tribal lands in Nevada, U.S.
The Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project is a 250 MW photovoltaic plant located on tribal land of the Moapa Band of Paiutes in Nevada, in the southwestern United States.
The project developer engaged with the tribal government and community over a period of seven years, ensuring that the site, construction, and operations aligned with tribal interests and land-use preferences.
During construction, the project directly employed 115 indigenous Americans, including about 50 local tribe members on the Moapa River Indian Reservation, and engaged 485 local subcontractors, demonstrating real employment benefits for the community.
As the first utility-scale solar power project sited on North American tribal lands, the Moapa project showed how major renewable energy deployment could align with indigenous land rights and participation.
Secondary literature
Andorka, Frank. “First Solar commissions 250 MW-AC project on Native American land.” PV magazine. 20 March 2017.
Federal Highway Administration (U.S.). Project Profile: Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project, Clark County, Nevada. U.S. Department of Transportation: Federal Highway Administration.
Stout, Sherry. “Solar project provides jobs and training for Moapa Band of Paiute Indians.” U.S. Department of Energy: Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, 29 March 2016.
Further reading
Business and Human Rights Centre. Justice in the transition: Litigating corporate abuse in the shift to clean energy for all. 2025.
Business and Human Rights Centre. Stop and listen: Pathways to meaningful engagement with rightsholders in the global rush to mine for transition minerals. 2024.
SIRGE Coalition. Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-Determination. A Guide to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. Securing Indigenous Peoples Rights in the Green Economy (SIRGE) Coalition.
Day, Megan, Liz Ross, Gail Mosey, Sherry Stout, Alison Holm, Tony Jimenez, and Sara Farrar. Community Energy Planning: Best Practices and Lessons Learned in NREL’s Work with Communities. National Laboratory of the Rockies. 2022.
Toledano, Perrine, Chris Albin-Lackey, Maria Diez Andres, and Martin Dietrich Brauch. Community Benefit Sharing and Renewable Energy and Mining Projects: Guidance for Responsible Investors & Governments. Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. 2023.
Special incentives for community-owned projects
Governments can create specific incentives to support community-owned renewable energy projects. Targeted policies like tax credits, low-interest loans, feed-in tariffs, and grant programmes can lower financial barriers and encourage local ownership and participation. These measures help ensure that the economic and social benefits of clean energy – such as job creation, income generation, and energy access – flow directly to communities, fostering equity, resilience, and long-term public support for the transition.
Examples of policies that incentivise community energy include:
- Dedicated feed-in tariffs and PPAs: Designated community-level FiTs or PPAs can guarantee fair and predictable prices for electricity generated by community-owned renewable energy projects, providing financial stability and encouraging investment.
- Grant and loan schemes: The availability of grants and loans can make capital more accessible to cooperatives, municipalities and local groups, helping them plan, finance and operate renewable energy installations.
- Tax incentives and rebates: Individuals and cooperatives can be rewarded through incentives and rebates for investing in community energy, reducing upfront costs and improving project viability.
- Publicly funded technical assistance and training: Local capacity-building programmes can provide the skills and knowledge needed to develop, manage, and maintain renewable energy projects.
- Dedicated legal frameworks: Laws and regulations that enable energy cooperatives and shared ownership can formalise community participation, enabling groups of citizens to jointly own and benefit from clean energy infrastructure.
- Priority grid access and simplified permits: Access rules and permitting processes can remove administrative and technical barriers that often hinder small-scale, community-owned renewable energy projects.
Case study: Indigenous-led renewable energy development in British Columbia, Canada
More than 200 indigenous-led renewable energy projects exist across Canada, with 79 grid-tied projects in British Columbia alone supplying about 13% of the province’s electricity from small hydro, wind, solar, and biomass.
In 2025, a federal ministry, Environment and Climate Change Canada, announced over CAD 40 million (about USD 29-30 million) in funding through the Low Carbon Economy Indigenous Leadership Fund to support 13 Indigenous-owned and -led clean energy projects across Canada.
The expansion of indigenous participation in energy development throughout Canada is supported by the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which aligns provincial law with UNDRIP principles and enshrines FPIC in national law. This framework ensures that indigenous communities are consulted on – and gain a meaningful stake in – projects developed on their traditional territories.
Many indigenous-led projects adopt joint-venture or full-ownership models, resulting in stable income that supports housing, education, health, and local employment. Indigenous-owned utilities and corporations train local community members in technical and managerial roles, ensuring that skills, profits, and knowledge remain in the community.
Legislation and policy documents
Government of Canada. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (S.C. 2021, c. 14). 2021.
Secondary literature
Busch, Frank, Joel Krupa, and Kevin Hanna. Unlocking Canada’s stranded renewable energies: Considerations for policymakers in developing frameworks for Indigenous-inclusive electricity transmission projects. Canadian Climate Institute. 2025.
Duncan, Seira, Sara Fusco, Rosie Rowe, Anna Soer, and Jacqueline Tedaldi. ”Renewable energy and Indigenous participation: the case of British Columbia” (blog post). University of the Arctic. 2023.
Further reading
IRENA Coalition for Action. Community Energy Toolkit: Best practices for broadening the ownership of renewables. IRENA. 2021.
Álvarez, Juan Pablo Cárdenas, Jan George, Juanita Giraldo Quiroz, Juan Andrés Estrada Walker, Juan Manuel España Forero, and Santiago Ortega Arango. Rethinking energy communities for a just transition: A critical view on La Estrecha Solar Community in Medellín, Colombia. Transactive Energy Colombia with EIA, EnergEIA, Fraunhofer ISI, and Centro de Pensamiento. 2023.
Day, Megan, Liz Ross, Gail Mosey, Sherry Stout, Alison Holm, Tony Jimenez, and Sara Farrar. Community Energy Planning: Best Practices and Lessons Learned in NREL’s Work with Communities. National Laboratory of the Rockies. 2022.
IPRI and the Resource Centre. Exploring shared prosperity: Indigenous leadership and partnerships for a just transition, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights International (IPRI) and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (the Resource Centre). 2024.
Indigenous Clean Energy. Accelerating Transition: Economic Impacts of Indigenous Leadership in Catalyzing the Transition to a Clean Energy Future Across Canada. Indigenous Clean Energy. 2020.