Climate Neutral Cities Sweden

The research evaluates climate neutrality trajectories in nine Swedish cities, finding that while political will and targets are strong, there are significant gaps in transport, construction, and food sectors. The authors highlight a disconnect between intent and outcomes, noting that the reliance on 'soft' policy instruments and contradictory economic incentives hinders progress, and recommend a shift toward more regulatory instruments and better alignment with superordinate governments.

• Analysis of nine Swedish cities reveals strong political commitment and established targets, but identifies critical gaps in planning and action specifically regarding food, construction, and transport.
• There is a disconnect between the intended climate outcomes and actual results because municipal governments rely on 'soft' policy instruments, and some economic instruments actively contradict the climate neutrality vision.
• To achieve climate neutrality, cities need to implement more regulatory instruments, align economic incentives with their vision, and collaborate with higher-level governments both nationally and internationally to coordinate policy instruments.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). Climate Neutral Cities Sweden. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-neutral-cities-sweden/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Climate Neutral Cities Sweden. 2023. https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-neutral-cities-sweden/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Climate Neutral Cities Sweden |date=27 March 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-neutral-cities-sweden/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023climate, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Climate Neutral Cities Sweden}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/climate-neutral-cities-sweden/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }