An exception applies to land allocation for areas and technical installations serving defence purposes, which need to be carried out by the relevant national authority after negotiation with the Government of Greenland. Similarly, land allocation for raw material facilities are also exempted from the Act on Planning and Land Use and is instead managed on a national level. This means that, in practice, approval can be given for land use for the extraction of raw materials without consulting the municipality.
There is no specific prioritisation of land for agricultural purposes in the Act on Planning and Land Use or in the statement on national planning. However, municipalities can safeguard agricultural interests, including securing particularly valuable agricultural areas, by including them in the detailed local plan provisions (‘detaljerede lokalplanbestemmelser’). An additional policy that may influence the prioritisation of agriculture in land use is the recently developed strategy for self-sufficiency for 2025–2030. This strategy highlights that areas with suitable soils, primarily in the southern part of Greenland, have cultivation potential that is currently underutilised.
Iceland
The Icelandic Planning Act
National planning strategy
Guidelines for the classification of agricultural land.
The planning system in Iceland is regulated by the Planning Act which has stated since 1998 that all land is subject to spatial planning and has been updated in 2010. The municipalities have the primary responsibility for planning and their main planning instrument is the municipal plan which covers the entire municipal jurisdiction. Municipalities also write specific plans covering development intentions in smaller areas of the municipality, in accordance with the municipal plan. It is also possible for two or more municipalities to jointly develop regional plans. This is however voluntary and is done without regional administration.
Nationally, the main steering instrument is the National Planning Strategy that guides land uses that need to be considered by local authorities when drafting municipal plans. The National Planning Agency, part of the Ministry of Infrastructure, is responsible for implementing the strategy, reviewing and approving the municipality plans and monitoring and advising municipalities in planning processes. Regional municipal and local plans are legally binding.
There has been limited overview of the extent and location of the most suitable agricultural lands, making it difficult to apply measures to preserve them. A change in the Icelandic Land Act has allowed the government to get a better overview of agricultural land by drafting new guidelines for agricultural land classification. The guidelines set criteria for local authorities to use when classifying agricultural land while developing municipality plans. The guidelines were drafted by the Ministry of Industries and Innovation (now the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries) in cooperation with the National Planning Agency and the Agricultural University of Iceland. The guidelines’ original function was primarily to be used as a voluntary tool. A 2021 change in the Land Act makes application of the guidelines obligatory.
Iceland has adopted targets for wetland restoration and carbon neutrality for the farming sector and has implemented regional policies for wetland restoration. While agricultural land is considered a valuable resource, there is no specific target for protecting it.
Norway
The Norwegian Planning and Building Act
The Land Act
National expectations on regional and municipal planning
National Soil Conservation Strategy
National goal to limit conversion of agricultural land
Spatial planning and land use in Norway is regulated by the Land Act and the Planning and Building Act. The Land Act prohibits conversion of agricultural land as a starting point. Following the Planning and Building Act, the evaluation is made by the municipalities who carry the main responsibility for planning. The local-level planning is directed by a municipal strategy, a municipal plan and detailed plans. On a regional level, planning is directed by a regional strategy and a regional plan. The regional and local instruments must however consider national steering documents, national expectations regarding regional and municipal planning, central government planning guidelines, and central government planning provisions. The national government can also develop a detailed plan when needed, for example when planning a larger development project is of national interest.
Every four years, the government proposes new national expectations for regional and municipal planning. These guidelines are the current government’s primary tool to direct and promote sustainable development in prioritised areas throughout the country. Both regional administrations and municipalities must follow the national expectations in planning strategies and plans. The expectations must also be used as a basis for government authorities’ participation in planning processes. There are new national expectations as of 2023 that will apply until 2027.
Norway also has a national Soil Conservation Strategy, particularly aimed at protecting agricultural land. The Soil Conservation Strategy emphasises protecting not just land under current agricultural use, but all potentially arable land. Besides soil’s function for food production, other benefits of soil conservation such as biodiversity, ecosystem services and carbon storage are highlighted. The strategy was first adopted in 2015 following a report developed by an appointed commission. The strategy has since then been updated in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
The first time the Norwegian parliament adopted a goal to limit the conversion of agricultural land (including cropland, meadows and permanent pastures, but not open country pastures (‘utmarksbeite’)) was in 2004. This goal was updated in 2015 following adoption of the first version of the Soil Conservation Strategy, specifying that the annual reallocation of cultivated land should be below 4 km² (4000 decares), to be reached gradually by 2020. The 2021 update of the Soil Conservation Strategy lowered the target to an annual maximum conversion of 3 km² (3000 decares), which was further tightened in 2023 to a maximum of 2 km² (2000 decares)) annual conversion of agricultural land to be reached by 2030.
Sweden
The planning system in Sweden is guided by the Swedish Planning and Building Act, stating that spatial planning responsibility lies with the municipalities. Agricultural land is included in the Environmental Code and legislated as being of high national importance. According to the Environmental Code, agricultural land can be used for development, but only where it is necessary to meet considerable public interest that can’t be achieved with other land. The formulation however leaves room for interpretation and different considerations. The Environmental Code also allows building permits and development plans approved by municipalities to be disputed.
The Environmental Code protects all agricultural land, declaring it to be of national importance. The assessment of agricultural land has been delegated to the municipalities. This protection should not be confused with the function of national interests, also specified in the Environmental Code. The function of national interests allows the national government to influence and monitor nationwide interests in local planning. A national interest is a smaller area of land or water that national authorities considered to be of national importance for a range of different societal interests, for example transport, cultural environment or defence. Twelve different national authorities are responsible for the system of national interests. The Swedish Board of Agriculture is, however, not one of them. Municipalities need to account for how national interests are considered in their municipal plan. County administrations monitor national considerations in local planning.
The Swedish parliament adopted 16 environmental objectives in 1999 to guide Sweden’s environmental politics and describe what constitutes a good and desired environment. One of these objectives, “a varied agricultural landscape,” aims to preserve long-term production capacity of agricultural areas and their natural and cultural values. Each objective is followed up by selected indicators. One of the indicators used to assess work on this environmental objective is the amount of agricultural land, which is presented in a report every fourth year. The Swedish Board of Agriculture is responsible for monitoring this objective.
National-level considerations are currently being made about how national policy can be developed to ensure sustainable use of land and water resources. Over the last ten years, several national investigations regarding the Environmental Code have been made. A preliminary study on national physical planning was completed in the fall of 2023, suggesting alternative ways to design national physical planning and which questions and interests it should cover.
Åland
Physical planning in Åland is regulated by the Planning and Building Act from 2008. Responsibility for physical planning lies primarily with the municipalities, which are tasked with developing the general plan and detailed plans (‘generalplan’ and ‘detaljplaner’). As mentioned in chapter 2, the Åland government provides comment on the general plans during their development and holds the right to appeal (‘besvärsrätt’) but does not have the authority to overturn decisions made by the municipality. However, the government may make decisions on land use for certain key social functions or purposes deemed to be of significant public importance. These include land use changes for communications infrastructure (such as traffic networks, ports and airports), energy production and energy transmission, and waste management.
There are several laws that need to be taken into consideration when developing and implementing the general plan. These primarily include legislation on environmental protection, nature conservation, and cultural heritage. Examples include the Landscape Act (1998:82) on nature conservation, Landscape Act (2008:124) on environmental protection and the Landscape Act (1965:9) on ancient monuments. There is currently no provision in legislation or policy that establishes priorities for land use or that specifically addresses the protection of agricultural land.