The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to drive sustainability, transparency, and resilience across the solar and wind energy industries’ supply chains.
As the world scales up the deployment of renewables to drive the energy transition and meet global climate goals, ensuring responsible sourcing and production of solar and wind components is critical. GWEC is actively working to establish a dedicated multistakeholder initiative for the wind sector called the Wind Sustainability Initiative (WSI), inspired by the SSI model, which will drive industry-wide ESG and traceability standards.
As both sectors scale rapidly to meet global demand, it is essential that this growth does not compromise the ethical and environmental standards we stand for. This partnership will help align best practices, enable knowledge exchange, and drive coordinated action to uphold these standards demonstrating our collective commitment to responsible growth that supports project financing and allows developers and utilities to expand confidently, without facing future compliance or sanction risks.
Objectives of the MoU
Under the terms of the agreement, the SSI and GWEC will work together to:
- Support GWEC in the development of Sustainability Standards for the wind sector, within the WSI framework.
- Promote harmonised standards for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and traceability across the solar and wind industries while recognising sector-specific needs.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange by leveraging the SSI’s established ESG and Traceability Standards to support the wind sector in the development of its own sustainability assurance framework.
- Strengthen multi-stakeholder governance by engaging key industry representatives, civil society organisations, and financial institutions.
- Accelerate the adoption of responsible sourcing practices across global renewable energy supply chains.
About SSI
The SSI is a leading multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to fostering responsible production, sourcing, and stewardship in the solar value chain. It unites industry leaders, civil society, international finance and independent experts to set new benchmarks for sustainability and accountability in the solar sector.
About GWEC
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) is a member-based organisation that represents the entire wind energy sector. The members of GWEC represent over 1,500 companies, organisations and institutions in more than 80 countries, including manufacturers, developers, component suppliers, research institutes, national wind and renewables associations, electricity providers, finance and insurance companies.
Source: GWEC
