The green transition is putting new pressure on land and nature. The expansion of green industries such as hydrogen production, battery manufacturing and data centres requires both energy and space – adding to the strain on natural areas and ecosystems.

‘We aim to study how public authorities and industrial actors handle this dilemma. How are climate goals balanced against the need to protect nature when new green industries are developed’, says Jon Birger Skjærseth, Research Professor at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and project leader for INDUSTRYLAND.

INDUSTRYLAND will examine how green industry, climate and land-use policies are developed and linked across three levels of governance: the EU, national government in Norway, and local municipalities. The project will analyse the interests, power relations and institutions that shape how nature concerns are integrated into green industrial policies.

‘There has been extensive research on how green industry policies contribute to emission reductions, but little on how they affect land use and ecosystems. We want to build a more complete understanding of how the green transition plays out on the ground’, says Skjærseth.

The project brings together national and international researchers, with expertise in industry, energy, climate and biodiversity governance. The aim is to generate new knowledge about how green industrial development can be planned and governed in ways that safeguard both climate and nature objectives.

‘Green industry needs to be green in more ways than one – not only in terms of emissions, but also in how it uses land’, says Skjærseth.
The project is funded under the Research Council’s programme Land under Pressure, and has a total budget of NOK 10.5 million (€910,000), of which NOK 9.3 million goes to the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. INDUSTRYLAND will run from 2026 to 2029.