How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around?

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the potential impacts of Sweden's goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2045 on individual consumption in the transport and food sectors. The authors identify significant gaps in current policy visions, particularly regarding the needs of rural populations in the transport transition and the lack of specific consumption targets in the food sector.

• Sweden aims to be a fossil-free welfare society with net-zero emissions by 2045, which will necessitate changes in consumption patterns, especially in the food and transport sectors as they are the highest emission categories.
• The transport sector has a national interim target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, but current reduction rates are only 25% of the speed required to meet this goal.
• Transport policies may unfairly impact rural populations because generalized strategies to reduce personal vehicle use do not account for limited public transport options in rural areas, potentially leaving these residents reliant on zero-emission vehicles with high upfront costs and insufficient charging infrastructure.
• A recent Swedish Government policy package designed to mitigate surging fuel and electricity prices includes short-term measures like temporarily lowering fuel taxes from June to October 2022 and a one-off fuel compensation of SEK 1000 to 1500 per car owner. However, these reactive measures risk prolonging the use of fossil fuels and personal cars.
• Sweden's food sector visions focus heavily on production and reducing food waste—with a target to reduce food waste and loss by 20% by 2025 compared to 2020—but lack clear targets for reducing emissions from food consumption patterns.
• While academic research suggests that reducing animal products, particularly red meat, is the most effective way to lower food-related emissions, Swedish policy currently relies on consumer information and education rather than stronger instruments like emissions-intensive food taxes.

APA

Gong, J., & Maltais, A. (2022). How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sei-wp-climate-food-transport-gong-2205a.pdf

Chicago

Gong, Jindan, and Aaron Maltais. How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sei-wp-climate-food-transport-gong-2205a.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gong |first1=Jindan |last2=Maltais |first2=Aaron |title=How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sei-wp-climate-food-transport-gong-2205a.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gong2022how, author = {Gong, Jindan and Maltais, Aaron}, title = {{How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sei-wp-climate-food-transport-gong-2205a.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }