A joint climate and nature cure: A transformative change perspective.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Change Policy
• Biodiversity Conservation

Background:

• Climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation have historically operated independently, leading to potential conflicts and missed opportunities for synergistic actions.
• The dominance of climate change discourse since the Rio Conventions has shaped environmental policies, often overlooking integrated approaches.
• Transformative governance principles offer a framework to address the limitations of fragmented environmental policy-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the mechanisms behind climate mitigation measure selection in Norway's Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector.
• To evaluate the biodiversity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission consequences of chosen climate mitigation strategies.
• To identify alternative measures with potential co-benefits for both biodiversity and GHG mitigation/removals.

Main Methods:

• Application of a transformative governance lens to a specific national case study (Norway's Climate Cure 2030).
• Analysis of policy mechanisms influencing climate mitigation choices within the LULUCF sector.
• Assessment of potential impacts on biodiversity and GHG emissions/removals.

Main Results:

• The study illustrates how specific mechanisms drive the selection of climate mitigation measures in the LULUCF sector.
• Potential negative consequences for biodiversity and GHG emissions from current measures are identified.
• Alternative strategies with positive outcomes for both biodiversity and climate mitigation are explored.

Conclusions:

• Current climate mitigation policies in the LULUCF sector may have unintended negative impacts on biodiversity.
• There are opportunities for synergistic measures that benefit both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
• Implementing transformative governance mechanisms can support integrated environmental policy actions.