Empowering Local Climate Action: Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use Challenges in the Region of Southern Denmark

This report is the result of the collaboration between the Region of Southern Denmark since spring 2023 by involving the UNESCO Chair on Urban Resilience at the University of Southern Denmark, Aalborg University, and Roskilde University. The first output of this collaboration resulted in the publication of a first report analyzing the climate action plans of the 22 municipalities in the Region of Southern Denmark, the known barriers to plan development and implementation, and a first set of recommendations. What became evident in this research is that extensive work in reducing emissions in Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) will be crucial for the Region to achieve its climate targets, hence the focus of this report. The research was developed by extracting data from the local climate plans completed between 2019 and 2023, surveys to municipal employees and external stakeholders, and interviews with climate coordinators performed in 2024, and it was integrated with insights from scientific and grey literature.