Accelerating Electricity Grid Deployment: Integrating Nature and Social Goals from the Start

02 June 2026

14:00-15:00 CET

Online

Organised by GINGR

Renewable generation and electricity grids are scaling at speed, reshaping infrastructure systems worldwide. The critical question is no longer whether we expand – but how we do so.

GINGR and the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) are hosting a webinar to present the findings of its new White Paper on Guiding Principles for Grids to Integrate Climate, Biodiversity & Social Goals.

Antonella Battaglini, CEO of RGI, will open proceedings, setting out why the rapid expansion of electricity grids is both a climate necessity and a critical moment to embed nature and social justice goals into infrastructure planning, rather than treating them as afterthoughts.

Adrián Maté, GINGR’s Environmental Coordinator, will then walk participants through the report’s three guiding principles: integrating ecology and ecosystem services into grid planning; ensuring early stakeholder engagement, transparency and legitimacy; and applying adaptive governance based on local knowledge.

Ciara Taberner, Executive Director of Safety, Health, Environment, and Communities at National Grid, will explain how they are developing and delivering the largest energy infrastructure programme in decades for the National Grid Electricity Transmission in the UK. The programme is enabling the mass rollout of clean electricity by modernising the grid to connect customers and deliver energy reliably, affordably, and at scale, with Climate, Nature and Communities embedded throughout.

She will also introduce the National Grid Social & Environmental Action Plan (SEAP), which is the delivery framework for embedding climate, nature and social value outcomes into how the electricity network is built and operated.

Beyond principles, the paper explores the role of strategic planning tools that incorporate environmental and social factors, and highlights the importance of stronger monitoring, transparency, and verification.

Join us on 2 June at 14:00-15:00 CET to explore how these principles apply to diverse contexts, whether as grid operators, policymakers, financiers, NGOs or regulators.