NordForsk: Land use justice for green transitions

JUSTGREEN focuses on conflicts that often arise in relation to land use changes driven by the green transition. This project will develop a framework to strengthen and deepen the democratic processes of the green transition with the aim to reduce such conflicts. Renewable energy is a core feature of the green transition. However, renewable energy production requires development of infrastructure and mining for critical minerals. In this way, renewable energy development is an important driver of land use changes in the Nordic countries. These land use changes often cause conflicts between developers, planning officials, environmentalists, and local inhabitants. Securing public support for green transitions depends on resolving these conflicts in equitable and environmentally just ways. JUSTGREEN develops a land use management framework that can be used to help resolve conflicts over land use in the green transition. We draw on theories of legitimacy, justice, and pluralistic valuation to develop a framework for just land use assessment. This last bit is important since a fundamental cause of the crisis in nature is the failure to appropriately value nature in decision-making processes. The framework will be applied to studies of ongoing and completed processes of land use change in relation to onshore wind projects and mining projects in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. We will analyse the knowledge base used in the planning process in each of the cases. We will evaluate the extent to which justice and value recognition have been considered. To further the theory and practice of land use justice, the project will also identify and test methods for conflict resolution within land use change processes. The framework will be made practically applicable for use in future land use change processes, thus holding the potential to support the democratisation of the green transition.

Extensive land use change driven by the green transition is contributing to increased levels of conflict in the Nordic countries due to both social and environmental concerns. Amidst the dramatic global decline in biodiversity, it is crucial that decisions involving infrastructure for carbon-free energy and related industries are based on holistic and just approaches to land use policy. Such approaches take into account loss of landscapes, biodiversity, and other “nature contributions to people” and support the legitimacy and democratization of the green transition. This project will combine theories of legitimacy, justice, and pluralistic valuation of nature to develop a framework for just land use assessment that can be applied in the study of both completed and planned renewable energy projects and related processes(e.g. battery production and mining). We will explore how different concepts of justice (procedural, recognition, distributive, responsibility, capability) can be applied to balance tradeoffs between different interests and values to achieve land use justice and improve the legitimacy of green transitions. Further, we will address the shortcomings in the current impact assessment system, which tends to underappreciate non-utilitarian values. The framework will be applied to studies of ongoing and completed processes of land use change in relation to onshore wind projects and mining projects throughout Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. We will analyse the knowledge base used in the planning process in each of the cases, and evaluate the extent to which justice and value recognition have been taken into account. To further the theory and practice of land use justice, the project will also identify and test methods for conflict resolution within land use change processes..