Municipal consumption-based emissions

This policy brief analyzes consumption-based emission estimation in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It highlights that while territorial tracking is standard, consumption-based approaches are necessary to address embodied emissions from global supply chains and food production. Key barriers include data collection challenges and a lack of detailed guidance in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for cities (GPC).

• Nordic municipalities primarily track greenhouse gas reductions using a territorial or area-based approach, which aligns with standard UNFCCC country-wide emission inventories, but there is a need to also track consumption-based emissions to capture imported embodied emissions.
• Consumption of goods and services in Nordic countries results in significant emissions outside their borders, driven by fossil fuel-based energy in supply chains and the food production sector. In 2015, the share of imported embodied CO2 emissions in final consumption ranged from 45% for Finland to nearly 60% for Iceland.
• Municipalities can mitigate consumption-based emissions through their own in-house consumption and by promoting responsible consumption patterns across society. However, a primary challenge is the collection of data and estimation of impacts across value chains, and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for cities (GPC) currently lacks detailed guidance for comprehensive consumption-based assessments.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). Municipal consumption-based emissions. https://www.sei.org/publications/municipal-consumption-based-emissions/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Municipal consumption-based emissions. 2023. https://www.sei.org/publications/municipal-consumption-based-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Municipal consumption-based emissions |date=29 September 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/municipal-consumption-based-emissions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023municipal, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Municipal consumption-based emissions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/municipal-consumption-based-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }