Is there room for it all if we want to accommodate renewable energy, nature, and all other societal interests? The issue of Denmark’s future land use was the focus of this year’s Climate People’s Assembly in Middelfart, where IPBES in Denmark, in collaboration with the Triangle Energy Alliance (TEA), invited a distinguished panel to participate in a debate.
The panelists were Peter Møllgaard, professor and chair of the Climate Council; Anders Barfod, associate professor at Aarhus University and member of the IPBES in Denmark steering committee; Karsten Wandall, Kolding Municipality; Signe Nepper Larsen, deputy director of the Danish Nature Agency; and Tom Heron, director of SEGES Innovation; with Lars Dinesen, coordinator of IPBES in Denmark, serving as moderator.
Watch highlights from the debate here:
Denmark’s land area is 4.3 million hectares, and within this space, we must find room for cities and infrastructure, industry, agriculture and forestry, nature and biodiversity, alternative energy, and all the other activities and interests associated with Danish society.
In other words, this is a matter of juggling space, and we need these areas as we transition to a different way of life.
In its land-use report from April 2024, the Climate Council emphasized that agricultural land, for example, can be reduced by one-third through the use of appropriate measures while maintaining agricultural production. Such a reduction in land area could allow us to protect nature and biodiversity, the aquatic environment, and space for alternative energy sources, among other things, while also yielding climate benefits.
The debate at the Climate People’s Assembly focused on the many considerations and challenges associated with land use planning in the future: How can the need for space be met? And what will this enormous challenge require in terms of innovative thinking and collaboration?
The evening before the debate, the government had just announced its decision to establish a green tripartite ministry, which made the debate particularly timely.
