In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on the current combined nature and climate crisis. Land-use changes are at the heart of all these challenges and in 2022, the United Nations confirmed a target for the conservation of 30 per cent of the earth’s surface (ocean and land). Strong land use measures are thus required to reduce land take and conserve nature areas. However, measures seeking to restrict or steer land use are typically contested, given the many interests involved – different levels of government with different legal powers to regulate land use; residents; and private landowners and developers. _x000D_
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In Norway the amount of carbon stored in ecosystems has been estimated to be 7 billion tons (Bartlett et al. 2020). However, between 1990-2019 built-up areas have increased by an average of 50 km2 per year (Søgaard et al. 2021), accounting for 4% of the country’s emissions (Norwegian Environment Agency 2023). In an attempt to reverse this trend, 42 municipalities (out of a total of 356) have, since 2019, decided to formally implement the radical policy principle of land-use neutrality. In theory, this means that no new land is to be taken into use or, if this is done, other currently developed land of equivalent area must be converted back to nature. In this explorative research, based on interviews and document studies, we look at the case of one Norwegian municipality, and its experience of trying to make this radical measure less contentious while still being effective in reducing land take and restoring nature. We apply integrative governance as theoretical framework, focusing on relationships between governance instruments and systems (Visseren-Hamakers, 2018). We ask: What are the key factors that facilitate the implementation of restrictive land-use measures at the municipal level?_x000D_

Anders Tønnesen 1, Tom Rye 2, Monica Guillen-Royo 1
1: Cicero center for international climate research, 2: Molde University College

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ID Abstract: 713