Petition Ban wind farms on protected peat land in England

Government will not ban onshore wind from development on peatland in England. As a low carbon emitting technology, onshore wind is a crucial part of the Government’s plans to mitigate against the devastating impacts of climate change.
A recent study in 2022 from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe estimated that, even taking into account emissions from manufacturing and construction, lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions from onshore wind are up to 65 times lower than the lowest fossil fuel gas turbine generators (https://unece.org/sed/documents/2021/10/reports/life-cycle-assessment-electricity-generation-options).

By displacing dirty fossil fuels from the grid – which are the primary cause for climate change and contribute to biodiversity loss – building more onshore wind will reduce power system carbon emissions and ensure climate mitigation and adaptation. To deliver clean power by 2030, we are therefore committed to radically increasing onshore wind energy to 27-29GW by 2030, from around 14GW in Great Britian today.

Equally however, Government understands concerns that building windfarms on peat land could have a detrimental impact on our natural environment and lead to increased carbon emissions. Government recognises that our peatlands are vital habitats for biodiversity, carbon, and water; that peatlands are sensitive habitats that are important for many species of flora and fauna; and that peat soils are rich in carbon and disturbance can lead to climate impacts.

That is why we have existing protections within the planning system which require careful consideration by developers and the relevant planning authority when onshore wind farm developments are proposed on peatlands. These require developers to put in place measures to avoid, reduce, mitigate or compensate for these potential impacts.

The National Planning Policy Framework protects ‘irreplaceable habitats’ from development unless there are wholly exceptional reasons and suitable compensation strategies. Approximately half of England’s deep peat, and a quarter of all of England’s peat soils, are afforded specific protection through being classed as ‘irreplaceable habitat’.

Government is also consulting on updates to the National Policy Statements for renewable energy development. This includes new guidance for the development of onshore wind farms, including those proposed on peatlands. The draft guidance sets outs protective provisions, such as:
• applicants should seek and rule out other locations before siting developments on peatland;
• applicants should take all opportunities to identify habitat enhancement opportunities in development design;
• construction methods should be designed to minimise soil and hydrology disturbance; and
• applicants should undertake avoidance, management, mitigation or compensatory measures, for example, restoring disturbed peatland habitats and carrying out additional nature restoration on or off-site.

The consultation and draft version of this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-for-new-energy-infrastructure-2025-revisions-to-national-policy-statements. The consultation closed on 29 May 2025. We are currently analysing feedback and our response to this consultation will be published within 12 weeks of the closing date.

In addition to protections within the planning system, guidance is available to ensure that best practice is followed when onshore windfarms are developed on or near peatlands. Developers should follow the guidance on good practice during wind farm construction, published by Scotland’s Nature Agency: https://www.nature.scot/doc/good-practice-during-wind-farm-construction.
This ensures that considerate construction methods are used to reduce the impact on peatlands; for example, positioning infrastructure in areas of shallower peat and considering the use of ‘floating roads’ on areas of deeper peat. Developers can further mitigate impacts by restoring peatlands as soon as possible after disturbance, and they should consider compensatory restoration to reduce total carbon emissions and ecosystem disruption.

To enable nature’s recovery while not impeding Government commitments to Net Zero and clean power by 2030, we must take a balanced approach to onshore wind development and peatland protection. Imposing a ban of onshore farms on protected peatlands removes the flexibility to consider proposed windfarm developments on a case-by-case basis. Instead, protections within the planning system and best practice guidance will continue to be used to carefully consider onshore wind development on peatland.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero