National Environmental Performance on Planetary Boundaries

The report develops a methodology to translate global planetary boundaries into national per capita and absolute targets. It finds that developed countries, including Sweden, frequently transgress these boundaries, particularly when consumption-based footprints are measured. The study also quantifies Sweden's 'legal competence deficit' regarding its national environmental objectives, noting that for climate impact, Sweden has no direct legal control over over 99% of the emissions threatening its goals. Finally, it analyzes the gap between planetary boundaries and international environmental agreements, concluding that while policy frameworks often exist, there is a significant implementation gap.

• Sweden's environmental performance is significantly worse when consumption-based indicators are used compared to territorial measures, particularly for climate change, land use change, and freshwater use.
• Sweden's 'legal competence deficit' for the national environmental objective of 'Reduced Climate Impact' is estimated to be over 99% at the global level, meaning it is almost entirely dependent on international cooperation to achieve this goal.
• For freshwater use, the report suggests a country-dependent boundary limiting withdrawal to 40% of nationally available freshwater, though it notes this is a crude measure that ignores local watershed variations.
• The proposed national boundary for land use change is 0.3 hectares per capita, or alternatively, a country-dependent limit of 15% of national land area converted to cropland.
• Analysis of 61 countries indicates that highly developed countries and emerging economies generally transgress more national boundaries than less developed countries, who often use sustainable amounts of resources per capita.
• The report identifies a 'policy gap' (difference between PB values and IEA targets) and an 'implementation gap' (difference between IEA targets and actual performance), finding that for climate change, the implementation gap is more significant than the policy gap.
• Stratospheric ozone depletion is the only planetary boundary that has been successfully addressed through international agreements, specifically the Montreal Protocol, resulting in a 'negative gap' where the PB is less ambitious than the achieved state.
• The report concludes that Sweden has not yet achieved its 'generational goal' as it currently transgresses three of the four quantified national boundaries: climate change, nitrogen, and land use.

APA

Nykvist, B., Persson, Å., Moberg, F., Persson, L., Cornell, S., & Rockström, J. (2013). National Environmental Performance on Planetary Boundaries. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SRC-SwedishEPA-NationalEnvironmentalPerformanceOnPlanetaryBoundaries-Report6576-2013.pdf

Chicago

Nykvist, Björn, Åsa Persson, Fredrik Moberg, Linn Persson, Sarah Cornell, and Johan Rockström. National Environmental Performance on Planetary Boundaries. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2013. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SRC-SwedishEPA-NationalEnvironmentalPerformanceOnPlanetaryBoundaries-Report6576-2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nykvist |first1=Björn |last2=Persson |first2=Åsa |last3=Moberg |first3=Fredrik |last4=Persson |first4=Linn |last5=Cornell |first5=Sarah |last6=Rockström |first6=Johan |title=National Environmental Performance on Planetary Boundaries |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=June 2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SRC-SwedishEPA-NationalEnvironmentalPerformanceOnPlanetaryBoundaries-Report6576-2013.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nykvist2013national, author = {Nykvist, Björn and Persson, Åsa and Moberg, Fredrik and Persson, Linn and Cornell, Sarah and Rockström, Johan}, title = {{National Environmental Performance on Planetary Boundaries}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SRC-SwedishEPA-NationalEnvironmentalPerformanceOnPlanetaryBoundaries-Report6576-2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }