Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future

The report evaluates the 'action gap' since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, noting that only about one-tenth of global environmental targets have been met. It argues that current economic systems drive planetary crises and extreme inequality, where the richest 10% of the population emitted more than half of total carbon emissions from 1990 to 2015. To unlock a better future, the authors propose redefining the human-nature relationship through biophilic urban design and indigenous knowledge, rethinking prosperity by moving beyond GDP and adopting 'function-over-product' business models, and reforming finance to bridge funding gaps in low-income countries. It calls for a new paradigm of 'technology co-development' and stronger accountability mechanisms to ensure that the coming decade leads to systemic transformation.

• There is a significant gap between policy aspirations and actual implementation; since 1972, only approximately 10% of global environment and sustainable development targets have seen significant progress or achievement.
• Global resource use has more than tripled since 1970, driven primarily by overdevelopment and affluence in high-income countries rather than scarcity. Currently, no nation is meeting its citizens' needs without exceeding biophysical planetary boundaries.
• Extreme inequality exists in both the cause and the impact of the planetary crisis: the wealthiest 10% of the global population was responsible for over 50% of carbon emissions between 1990 and 2015, while the poorest half contributed only 10%. Conversely, low-income groups suffered 60 deaths per million from climate disasters between 2000 and 2017, compared to 16 per million for high-income groups.
• The report identifies three necessary systemic shifts: redefining the human-nature relationship from extraction to care, rethinking prosperity to ensure it lasts for all through sustainable lifestyles and new economic metrics, and investing in a sustainable future by addressing funding gaps in low- and lower-middle income countries.
• To bridge the technology gap between developed and developing nations, the document advocates for a shift from traditional technology transfer to a 'co-development of technology' paradigm involving shared intellectual property and jointly designed R&D.
• Financial systems must be reformed to mobilize private capital for sustainability, specifically by reducing the perceived risk of sustainable investments and increasing the perceived risk of unsustainable ones through measures like lending portfolio mandates.
• Effective action is currently hindered by structural barriers including policy incoherence, weak multilateralism, and a lack of accountability for promises made by countries and companies.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/stockholm50-unlocking-a-better-future-10.51414-sei2022.011-summary.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future. 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/stockholm50-unlocking-a-better-future-10.51414-sei2022.011-summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/stockholm50-unlocking-a-better-future-10.51414-sei2022.011-summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022stockholm50, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Stockholm+50: Unlocking a Better Future}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/stockholm50-unlocking-a-better-future-10.51414-sei2022.011-summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }