Land use change is considered one of the greatest threats to nature and biodiversity (IPBES 2019, 12). Significant action is needed to break current trends, and ecosystem accounting has been put forward as a statistical system for monitoring nature extent, condition, and contribution to the economy, and as a potential operational tool for climate and nature policies (Hein et al. 2015, 89). This master’s thesis investigates how ecosystem accounting can contribute to sustainable transitions in Norway. Qualitative content analysis has been used to identify different values in municipal documents concerning local area planning or nature strategies in a selection of Norwegian municipalities. The concept of the four sustainability pathways presented by IPBES - green growth, degrowth, ecocultural stewardship and nature conservation - has been used as a framework to analyze the orientation of the detected values. There is a clear dominance of values aligned with green growth, followed by nature conservation. To the extent that these values become translated into ecosystem accounting practices, it may result in a preference for solutions that align environmental goals with economic development.
At the same time, it is important to bear in mind that ecosystem accounts provide standardized information, and this information can be interpreted and applied differently, depending on the underlying value orientations of decisionmakers. The information provided by such tools does not by itself translate into action. While ecosystem accounting can become a valuable monitoring tool for sustainable transitions, it lacks the power to initiate transformation processes on its own, as it cannot provide wrong or right answers to complex questions and dilemmas. Therefore, developers of ecosystem accounts should emphasize their possible use for decision makers, making it clear that ecosystem account can support, but not replace value-based and context-sensitive decision making in land use planning.Praksisbasert masteroppgaveSDG351MAHF-SD
