Personal Carbon Trading as a Potential Policy Instrument to Reduce Swedish Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The paper evaluates the feasibility of implementing a Personal Carbon Trading (PCT) scheme in Sweden, comparing it to existing UK-based models and current Swedish climate policies. It concludes that a standard PCT scheme would not be an efficient approach for reducing emissions in Sweden's housing and transport sectors due to high administrative costs and the effectiveness of existing policies. However, it suggests that PCT-like concepts could be explored to address emissions embedded in global supply chains.

• Swedish greenhouse gas emissions from a consumption perspective are significantly higher than those from a production perspective, with one estimate placing them around 25 per cent higher.
• A standard PCT scheme similar to those proposed in the UK is deemed inefficient for Sweden because of the high expected costs and the existing effectiveness of Swedish policies and energy sources.
• The potential for PCT to achieve additional emission reductions in the Swedish housing sector is limited because residential heating is already dominated by district heating and electricity is primarily sourced from low-emission hydro and nuclear power.
• While transport emissions in Sweden are increasing, the paper notes that a PCT scheme would face equity challenges because citizens in rural areas and northern Sweden have less access to public transportation than those in urban areas.
• Current Swedish climate policies do not directly cover emissions from the production and transport of imported food and consumables, leaving approximately 19 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents unaddressed.
• Implementing a PCT scheme that includes emissions embedded in supply chains (such as the RAPS or Ayres schemes) is considered unfeasible in the short term due to the complexity and cost of estimating emissions throughout the supply chain.
• UK-based analyses suggest that PCT is not cost-effective; one estimate found administrative costs to be more than 15 times the value of the potential additional benefits between 2013 and 2020.
• Equal per capita emission allowances are not considered straightforwardly fair because individuals have different starting points for reducing emissions based on location, age, and number of children.

APA

Varnäs, A., Nykvist, B., Persson, Å., & Rauland, V. (2010). Personal Carbon Trading as a Potential Policy Instrument to Reduce Swedish Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WorkingPaper-Varnas-PersonalCarbonTrading-2010.pdf

Chicago

Varnäs, Annika, Björn Nykvist, Åsa Persson, and Vanessa Rauland. Personal Carbon Trading as a Potential Policy Instrument to Reduce Swedish Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2010. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WorkingPaper-Varnas-PersonalCarbonTrading-2010.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Varnäs |first1=Annika |last2=Nykvist |first2=Björn |last3=Persson |first3=Åsa |last4=Rauland |first4=Vanessa |title=Personal Carbon Trading as a Potential Policy Instrument to Reduce Swedish Greenhouse Gas Emissions |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2010 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WorkingPaper-Varnas-PersonalCarbonTrading-2010.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{varns2010personal, author = {Varnäs, Annika and Nykvist, Björn and Persson, Åsa and Rauland, Vanessa}, title = {{Personal Carbon Trading as a Potential Policy Instrument to Reduce Swedish Greenhouse Gas Emissions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-WorkingPaper-Varnas-PersonalCarbonTrading-2010.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }