SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES COUNCIL
Press release, 31 May 2010
The negative pressures on the environment and human health resulting from consumption in Sweden need to be reduced, both inside and outside the country’s borders. That is one of the points raised by the Environmental Objectives Council in its latest report to the Swedish Government, de Facto 2010.
The Council has been monitoring progress towards Sweden's 16 environmental quality objectives since 2002. This year's report takes a closer look at how consumption of food, clothes and other goods imported from around the world affects the environment in the countries where they are produced.
‘To give a few examples: greenhouse gas emissions arising from consumption in Sweden are higher than those from production in this country; large quantities of water are used in other parts of the world to produce the things consumed here in Sweden, a nation well endowed with water; and large areas of land in other countries are used to produce the food we import,’ says Eva Eriksson, County Governor of Värmland and Chair of the Environmental Objectives Council.
Greenhouse gas emissions
According to estimates, the figure for Sweden’s emissions of greenhouse gases a few years ago ends up at least 25 per cent higher in a consumption perspective than from a production point of view.
Sweden’s ‘water footprint’ – a measure of how much water we use in our consumption – is around 2,000 cubic metres per person per year. That means that every Swede ‘uses’ roughly 5,500 litres of water a day, or some 37 bathtubs full. Some of this water we take straight from the tap, but much larger quantities are used, in this country and abroad, to produce the goods we consume, including clothes and food.
Releases of chemicals
Consumption also gives rise to the use and release of chemicals, both inside and outside Sweden. There are no overall assessments of or statistics on the quantities involved. We also have a poor understanding of what substances are released from products.
Environmental objectives system to change
In March this year, the Government proposed changes to the environmental objectives system, including replacing the Environmental Objectives Council with a Parliamentary Commission and a special advisory body to the Minister for the Environment. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will be given responsibility for coordinating follow-up of progress towards the objectives. The Swedish Parliament will consider the Government's proposals on 22 June.
The full report of the Environmental Objectives Council (in Swedish): Miljömålen – svensk konsumtion och global miljöpåverkan, de Facto 2010 (ISBN 978-91-620-1280-9) can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency's website.
English summaries of parts of the report – the Council's overall assessment, its thematic study of Swedish consumption and environmental pressures in other countries, and assessments of progress towards the individual objectives – will be available at the end of June on the Environmental Objectives Portal.
For further information
Eva Eriksson, Chair of the Environmental Objectives Council,
+46 70 530 42 13
Tom Hedlund, Head of the Council’s Secretariat, +46 8 698 14 13, tom.hedlund@naturvardsverket.se