While climate change dominates as the most significant indirect impact on biodiversity from energy production, distribution and consumption, direct impacts associated with energy systems are also important – such as habitat loss and fragmentation from energy infrastructure and production and species impacts from pollution and collision.

The relationship between energy and the environment will change with shifts in the mix of energy production and consumption patterns. Ecosystems negatively affected by shifts in energy systems (e.g. towards more intensive cropping for biofuels) may not be able to provide the range of goods and services which they currently provide or potentially could provide. These impacts on the provisioning of goods and services from ecosystems is further likely to impact on people – particularly those who rely most directly on nature for their livelihoods.