A societal value compass for the Swedish steel industry

The Stockholm Environment Institute and the Swedish Steel Producers Association (Jernkontoret) are creating a methodology and toolbox—a 'societal value compass'—to guide the Swedish steel industry toward its 2050 vision of creating positive societal value. The tool integrates the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with capital theory (natural, real, human, and social capital) to evaluate how industry activities affect broader societal interests. The project involves cross-impact balance analysis of SDG targets, focus group consultations, and the development of a prototype to be tested through topical case studies. This framework aims to enhance the industry's global competitiveness and facilitate communication with investors, employees, and policymakers regarding its contribution to sustainability.

• The 'societal value compass' is being developed using two primary frameworks: the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, and capital theory based on the World Bank's approach to wealth accounting involving natural, real, human, and social capital.
• The project aims to support the Swedish steel industry's 2050 vision, which focuses on technical excellence, creativity, innovation, and resource efficiency to ensure the industry produces only positive "societal value" (samhällsnytta).
• The methodology will employ cross-impact balance analysis to investigate how progress on specific SDG targets influences others and how these targets interact with various forms of capital in both corporate and societal balance sheets.
• The compass is intended to improve the industry's decision-making regarding alliance-building, investments, and product portfolio development, while also serving as a communication tool for stakeholders including investors, politicians, and civil society.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2017). A societal value compass for the Swedish steel industry. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-FS-2017-Societal-value.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. A societal value compass for the Swedish steel industry. 2017. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-FS-2017-Societal-value.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=A societal value compass for the Swedish steel industry |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-FS-2017-Societal-value.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2017societal, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{A societal value compass for the Swedish steel industry}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-FS-2017-Societal-value.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }