Nordic collaboration on climate neutrality

The Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) are all aiming at achieving climate neutrality before 2050, but this will be hard to achieve with the current pace of the green transition in the Nordic region. That is one of the key conclusions from the project “Nordic Stocktake and Visions – Pathways to Climate Neutrality”, carried out by a Nordic consortium consisting of the organizations CONCITO, CICERO, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, University of Iceland and Reykjavik University, and Tyrsky Consulting. 

In the report ”Nordic Stocktake – Pathways to Climate Neutrality”, the consortium has taken stock of GHG emissions in the Nordic countries, and described and assessed the national pathways towards climate neutrality in the Nordic region. The report identifies shared Nordic challenges and points out areas with potential for further Nordic collaboration. Since 1990, GHG emissions have been reduced by 26% across the Nordic region. This reduction is almost exclusively achieved through emission reductions in the energy sector. Reaching climate neutrality rests on the Nordic countries achieving fast and significant reductions in the other sectors (industrial processes, domestic transport as well as agriculture, and land-use, land-use-change, and forestry). There is great potential in a strengthened Nordic collaboration as many of the challenges and barriers faced by the Nordic countries are the same. 

An important part of the project has been to attempt to put into words what a climate neutral society could look like – and what makes it a better society than our current one. That is described in the report ”Nordic Visions of Climate Neutrality”. Visions are powerful tools in spurring action and creating support for the green transition. A positive vision of the climate neutral Nordic society could be about a society in balance, environmentally and socially. It could be visions about a healthier society, with strong, local communities. Such a vision does not realize itself – climate change policies, and arguments for specific climate change policy, need to be aligned with visions.