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145 results
Sustainable cities: lessons from a Swedish community-level initiative
The 'Sustainable Hökarängen' project utilized an action-research approach to promote resource-efficient lifestyles in a residential district of Stockholm. Key findings emphasize that engagement is most effective when activities are social and enjoyable—such as communal gardening and climate-smart cooking—rather than focused on areas where residents have limited control, such as apartment energy use. The project successfully established a network of 'Sustainability Ambassadors' and local movements like HOPP! to ensure continuity. While a parallel investment programme by Stockholmshem reduced heating energy use by over 30% per square metre, the community-level project found that social cohesion and peer interaction were primary drivers of behavioral change. The brief concludes that evaluating such initiatives requires a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods and long-term follow-up to determine if behavioral changes are sustained.
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Document type: Policy brief
Tribuna de Unai Pascual (Ikerbasque, Fundación Vasca para la Ciencia & Basque Centre for Climate Change, BC3) y 13 firmas más para #CDO (Creadores de Opinión Verde) en la blogosfera de @efeverde con ocasión de la COP21 de París
The text calls for rigorous, responsibility-driven journalism and better scientific communication to address the global challenge of climate change, warning against alarmism and the influence of financial lobbies.
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Document type: Statement
Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti kodumajapidamistes ja toitlustusasutustes
The report analyzes food waste in Estonia, finding that households are the largest contributors, with an average of 130.4 kg of food waste per household annually. In the catering sector, restaurants exhibit the highest rate of food loss, with 87% of their total food waste being avoidable. The study identifies food spoilage as the primary driver of household waste and plate leftovers as the main cause in hospitals and restaurants. It concludes with specific recommendations for households, schools, and healthcare facilities to reduce waste through better planning and consumer awareness.
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Document type: Report
Hållbara Hökarängens fördjupade miljösatsning – Slutrapport
The project, led by Stockholmshem and Sustainable Innovation with research by the Stockholm Environment Institute, focused on behavioral changes and technical energy efficiency. While technical investments reduced heat consumption by 14% across the district (and 32% in specific upgraded buildings), behavioral goals for household electricity reduction were not fully met. The project found that residents were more engaged by 'lustful' activities they could control, such as urban gardening and climate-smart cooking, than by technical energy-saving measures. Key successes included the establishment of the HOPP! transition initiative, a local sustainability ambassador network, and a 'carrot mob' that successfully pressured local grocers to expand their organic product ranges.
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Document type: Report
Styrmedel och andra insatser för att minska svensk konsumtions påverkan på hälsa och miljö i andra länder
The report assesses how Sweden can mitigate the global environmental and health footprints of its consumption. It identifies key 'hotspots'—specifically electronics from China and soy from Brazil—and proposes a mix of economic, administrative, informative, and collaborative tools. The authors argue that while many ideas exist, there is a lack of political action and a need for systemic change, such as shifting toward a circular economy and adjusting tax systems, rather than relying solely on individual consumer choices or isolated production improvements.
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Document type: Research paper
Identifying policy instruments to reduce environmental footprints
This policy brief outlines a three-step analytical approach to identify and prioritize policy instruments for reducing a country's external environmental footprint, using Sweden as a case study. It identifies approximately 60 existing or potential instruments and recommends a multi-sectoral strategy involving tax adjustments, public procurement criteria, and bilateral cooperation with producer countries to achieve the 'Generational Goal' of solving environmental problems without increasing them outside Swedish borders.
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Document type: Policy brief
Remettre la démocratie au centre du projet politique
The text examines the role of political ecology in promoting autonomy and 'plausible utopias' while critiquing the current state of European politics. The author highlights a 'monstrous complementarity' between conformist and extremist conservatism in Europe, which marginalizes progressive voices and limits the impact of green parties. Using the 2013 vote on the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework as an example, the author illustrates how major parties (Conservatives, Socialists, and Liberals) often align on conservative budgets, leaving the Greens' opposition ineffective. The document concludes that the crisis of legitimacy in European and national institutions requires a fundamental rethinking of political parties, suggesting they become more permeable structures that prioritize democratic risk and ideological pluralism over rigid organizational traditions.
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Document type: Statement
Low carbon technology for the rising middle class
The document argues that the rising middle class in developing countries is at a critical juncture where they will either adopt sustainable, low-carbon lifestyles or become locked into the high-carbon patterns typical of industrialised nations. It emphasizes the need for social, institutional, and technological innovations to steer this population toward environmentally desirable outcomes. The brief is part of a larger CDKN-funded project aimed at improving the development, diffusion, and transfer of low-carbon technologies through national and international instruments, including the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism.
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Document type: Policy brief
Rethinking development: sustainable consumption, production and trade
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) develops consumption-based accounting tools, such as multi-regional input-output (MRIO) models, to reveal environmental costs often ignored by territory-based emissions tracking. SEI argues that while consumers play a role, systemic shifts driven by government and business are essential to overcome infrastructure and business models that lock in unsustainable patterns. Their research also highlights how complex global supply chains can transfer vulnerabilities and environmental risks between producer and consumer regions.
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Document type: Briefing
Degrowth: a strategy to counter the crisis
The text advocates for degrowth to counter ecological collapse and social inequality, proposing a shift from GDP-driven growth to a model based on an Unconditional Autonomy Allowance (UAA). This UAA would provide non-monetary drawing rights on resources and local currencies rather than standard monetary allocations. The authors suggest three implementation scenarios: leveraging existing local alternatives, reducing working time to share labour, or establishing a basic income coupled with a Maximum Acceptable Income (MAI) and debt cancellation. The goal is to relocate production locally to make environmental and social externalities visible and to transition from 'recession by necessity' to 'degrowth by choice'.
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Document type: Statement
The Convivialist Manifesto
The Convivialist Manifesto advocates for an 'art of living together' based on principles of common humanity, sociality, and individuation to replace the current global order. It argues that humanity faces self-destructive 'entropical' and 'anthropogenic' threats due to the unlimited accumulation of power and a failure to manage rivalry and violence. The manifesto calls for a transition toward 'prosperity without growth,' the implementation of maximum and minimum wages to curb extreme wealth and deprivation, and a restorative relationship with nature where humanity gives back as much as it takes.
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Document type: Statement
Make Do and Mend: Industrial Conversions and Sustainability Transitions
The authors critique current European economic strategies as failing socially and environmentally, advocating instead for a 'green conversion' of industry. Drawing on the 1970s Lucas Aerospace and LIP factory examples, they propose shifting production from energy-intensive consumption to resilient products through worker-led innovation and democratic work organization. The paper suggests implementing 'Ecological Enterprise Zones' in post-industrial areas of Britain and refocusing EU convergence funding to support circular economies and social ownership, arguing that moving away from corporate profit-driven models is essential for achieving a sustainable, low-energy economy.
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Document type: Research paper
Compendio del Manifiesto Convivialista
The Compendio del Manifiesto Convivialista argues that humanity's technical and material wealth has not increased happiness and instead threatens survival through 'entropic' and 'anthropic' threats. It proposes 'convivialism'—an art of living together that prioritizes social relations and nature over the accumulation of power. The manifesto outlines a doctrinal minimum based on four principles: common humanity, common sociality, individuation, and controlled creative opposition. It advocates for a 'prosperity without growth,' the establishment of minimum and maximum incomes to curb extreme inequality, and a reciprocal relationship with nature where humans return as much as they take. The text calls for the localization of economies and the elimination of unemployment to counter the destructive dynamics of globalization.
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Document type: Statement
Africa is Sovereign and will not be Re-colonized!
Friends of the Earth Africa and various NGOs issued an open letter to Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt to denounce the views of Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach. The signatories argue that the Minister's approach to development is obsolete and risks the economic recolonization of Africa. They advocate for food sovereignty, the protection of seed and cultural diversity, and a development path that respects African sovereignty and avoids the destructive production and consumption models of developed nations.
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Document type: Statement
THE BASQUE ECOLOGICAL DEBT: GLOBAL SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY
The Basque Country exhibits a high resource dependency, with a Total Material Requirement of 108 tons per capita in 2004, 83% of which is imported. This consumption pattern drives significant environmental and social degradation abroad, including oil spills in Nigeria, deforestation for palm oil in Indonesia, toxic pollution from nickel mining in Russia, and watershed degradation from tin mining in Bolivia. The document argues that the economic prosperity of developed regions is linked to an unsustainable use of global resources and calls for a transformation in consumption and production patterns to meet basic human needs without exceeding planetary limits.
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Document type: Policy brief
Case Studies on Low Emission Development
The Vietnam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS), approved in September 2012, seeks to restructure the economy for resource efficiency and sustainable growth. It sets specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption per unit of GDP by 2020, 2030, and 2050. Implementation is managed by an Inter-ministerial Coordinating Board and supported by a blend of public, private, and international financing, including the Green Climate Fund and potential carbon taxes.
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Document type: Case study
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Consumption
The research paper develops a methodology for scenario analysis of consumption-based GHG emissions, moving beyond traditional production-based accounting. It introduces a framework using a modified Kaya Identity to forecast emissions by analyzing population, consumption activity, and GHG intensity. The authors provide a catalogue of low-GHG behavioral measures across food, goods, services, construction, transport, and home energy. Piloting the method in Seattle and the U.S., the study finds that while aggressive behavioral shifts and production improvements can reduce consumption-based emissions by 47% by 2030, the resulting levels remain significantly above the global average required to limit warming to 2°C.
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Document type: Research paper
Global miljöpåverkan och lokala fotavtryck - analys av fyra svenska kommuners totala konsumtion
The report argues that Swedish consumption patterns are unsustainable, requiring resources equivalent to 3.25 Earths if adopted globally. Using the Resources and Energy Analysis Programme (REAP), it demonstrates that consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden are approximately 90% higher than official national statistics. Analysis of four cities shows that Stockholm has the highest environmental footprint, while all four exceed the per capita emission levels required to meet the 2-degree global warming target.
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Document type: Report
Ecology as a way out of the crisis
The author contends that overcoming the crisis requires surpassing national sovereignty in favor of a federal European Union to regulate financial markets and climate change. The text proposes a green economy based on massive innovation in green technologies and building insulation to create non-delocalisable jobs and reduce climate imbalance. Finally, it argues for a departure from traditional political strategies based on GDP growth and consumption, citing the reality of a world with limited resources.
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Document type: Statement
The Green New Deal: The German Perspective
The German Greens propose a Green New Deal to transition Germany toward a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy. The plan rests on three pillars: re-regulating financial markets to end speculation, implementing green industrial policies to promote renewables and efficiency, and ensuring social justice through a 'new social balance' and fair wealth distribution. The authors argue that Germany's industrial success depends on this transformation and that it must be coordinated at the EU level to be effective.
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Document type: Statement