Pressured local governance spaces in Norwegian wind power procedures

NTNU Social Science and Humanities Conference on Sustainability. 27th to 28th of September 2023 Session on Geographical Perspectives on Just and Sustainable Transitions Pressured local governance spaces in Norwegian wind power procedures Mikaela Vasstrøm, Department of Global Development and Planning, University of Agder Abstract There is an increased pressure for renewable energy development at all levels of society. Renewable energy is positioned as the most important key to achieve climate mitigation, green value creation, and energy security. However, renewable energy production also generate a range of socio-ecological, cultural, and economic conflicts in local communities that requires political choices. The growing field of procedural justice is concerned with how energy transitions secure transparent and accountable regulations, and democratic processes. Less attention has been given to how local government actors are challenged to navigate and prioritize between opposing values and interests from a range of actors from local, national and international scale. This paper analyzes spaces for formal and informal governance in Norwegian wind power and discuss challenges for local community procedural justice. Norway has since 2018 experienced major local and national controversies of wind power development and its environmental and social impact. In particular, the procedural conditions for wind power have been exposed to extensive criticism from municipal authorities and local communities. Municipalities do not have a formal decision making authority in energy licensing, yet they have had an (informally) influential role on state wind power licensing. This procedural practice created a pressured governance space for municipal authorities in wind power processes. Municipal politicians and administration in several Norwegian cases describe how they on the one hand have experienced a pressure from developers, landowners and at times from national energy authorities to develop wind power. On the other hand, local citizens, protest movements and NGOs have claimed voice and accountability of the local decision making. These different stakeholders leverage different resources, knowledge and power to pressure local government actors. It is important to re-politicize energy transitions, and open for local decision making, but that also entails securing better procedural conditions to include less powerful actors in the governance spaces.