In the wake of the Paris Agreement in 2015, many municipalities in Sweden have adopted their own climate goals. 48 are part of the Viable Cities network, with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2030. The idea is to be role models, inspire and push each other.
But most cannot show any dramatic reductions in emissions. From 2019, the year before the pandemic, to 2024, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 16 of the municipalities have even increased their emissions.
“It is true that many municipalities will not reach the full path. But it says something important about how complex this transition is,” says Sara Gustafsson, a professor at Linköping University who researches municipal sustainability work.
“More visionary”
One problem is that municipalities have limited influence when it comes to emissions outside their own organisations, such as industries, state airports and major roads.
These are large, complex processes that take a very long time and which I think are difficult to predict at the beginning when setting the goals.
Olga Kordas is a lecturer at KTH and works for Viable Cities. She notes that it is "very difficult to achieve the 2030 goals", and that they are inspired by the Apollo project, which decided to put a man on the moon within ten years.
When we formulate the goal, it is more visionary, she says and continues:
The idea is that if municipalities drive and accelerate the transition to be as close to the 2030 goals as possible, they can show the way for everyone. It will be cheaper and more efficient for everyone.
Difficult for Gothenburg
The municipalities themselves have set their own goals based on the vision. Gothenburg, for example, set a goal to reduce emissions by 10.3 percent per year by 2021. However, in 2019-2024, the total reduction is only 7.7 percent.
The city has done a lot to cut emissions, such as a new bio-steam boiler for district heating, subsidising public transport and certain electricity requirements in procurements. Karin Pleijel (MP), municipal councilor responsible for the environment and climate, nevertheless admits that the city is not even close:
No, I can really agree with that, she says.
She shifts some of the responsibility onto the government, which has lowered the reduction obligation, the tax on fossil fuels and removed some incentives for electrification.
The world looks different than it did in 2021. I can be the first to lament how the attitude that we should do something about this has changed.
The Viable Cities innovation program aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. Cities account for approximately 70 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
48 Swedish municipalities and several national authorities are participating, with the goal of inspiring and encouraging each other.
TT's review of the latest current emissions data shows that they are far from achieving the overall vision. The average reduction per year over the past five years is 1.38 percent per year (other municipalities average 0.71 percent).
The municipalities have also been able to set their own goals, many of which appear to be falling short.
