The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has started a new project that will help Swedish authorities to map and reduce Swedes’ emissions generated by consumption. InsightOne joined the project to help develop a tool that municipalities will use to create new initiatives and activities to address consumption-based emissions.
Accelerate towards Agenda 2030
“Accelerate towards Agenda 2030: Planning and implementation of reduced climate footprint at local level” is a project led by SEI in close collaboration with two Swedish municipalities – Kalmar and Umeå – and InsightOne. InsightOne contribution is breaking down national consumption-based emissions to postal code level.
The project involves the development of a tool that will provide a database of household and public climate footprints from consumption with statistics per municipality. The tool will also provide a function that will serve as a support for the municipalities’ work on identifying effective instruments and measures to reduce the consumption-based emissions generated by their own operations, as well as household emissions.
Although the climate emissions generated in Swedish territory have declined over the past two decades, Swedish consumption-based emissions are still at a high level of around 10 tonnes per person per year. These must decrease sharply if we are to get down to about one tonne per person per year by 2050, which is the global average set by the UN Climate Panel IPCC to be necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals.
– “The work of the municipalities will be crucial in achieving this reduction,” says project manager Elena Dawkins at Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI. “Several Swedish municipalities have high aspirations to reduce their climate footprint, implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and support sustainable lifestyles, but they have lacked the data they need at local level to be able to plan effectively and measure progress. The tool will be able to help develop new initiatives and activities at the municipal level to address the consumption-based emissions, ”Dawkins continues.
– “In Umeå, we have already begun work on calculating consumption’s climate impact at the municipal level, but the challenge is to find a cost-effective model that works for all municipalities, both small and large. We hope that the collaboration with Kalmar and SEI can strengthen our and other municipalities’ efforts to understand the climate impact of consumption and, by extension, identify effective instruments”, says Johan Sandström, energy and climate strategist in Umeå municipality.
Data and educational materials will be available to interested parties
As part of the project, SEI will also offer interested municipalities a workshop to demonstrate how the tool is constructed and can be used. When the project is completed, the tool with all data and educational material will be made available to all interested parties.
Read the pressrelease: Accelerate towards Agenda 2030
For interviews or questions, please contact:
Katarina Axelsson, researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute
katarina.axelsson@sei.org 073-707 85 77
Ylva Rylander, PR and communications at Stockholm Environment Institute
ylva.rylander@sei.org 073-150 33 84
Märta Streijffert, project manager at Umeå kommun, 070-590 01 82
Sara Gripstrand, strategist at Kalmar kommun, 0480-45 00 89
Johan Lundin, Solution Director at InsightOne, johan.lundin@insightone.se
The Stockholm Environment Institute is an international and independent research and policy organization that tackles environmental and sustainability challenges. SEI links science and decision-making to develop solutions and contribute to a sustainable future for everyone. At eight centers in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, they are involved in policy processes, development measures and business practices worldwide www.sei.org @SEIforskning
