We create a future worth longing for
Klimatkommunerna is an association of cities, towns and regions in Sweden. Our members are frontrunners in the transition towards a fossil free future with a good quality of life for their inhabitants.
Mission
Our overall aim is to speed up the climate transition through exchanging experiences, influencing national policy making, and highlighting successful actions and synergies to inspire towns and regions in Sweden to reach further.
We do this by:
- Bringing together members for networking meetings 3-4 times/year
- Engaging in active dialogue with the national level, for example government agencies, Fossil Free Sweden, the Swedish EPA and the Swedish Climate Policy Council.
- Communicating inspiring examples of effective local climate action with positive synergies, and describing success factors and top tips to succeed.
- Gathering our members’ expertise and experiences to highlight gaps in national climate policy and ideas for improvement
Contact details
In this section of our website, we gather a selection of news and facts translated to English. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are looking for information regarding a specific aspect of local climate action/policy in Sweden. You can find our contact details here
Our members
A presentation of our members and links to their websites in English can be found here.
National climate policy in Sweden
On this link, we have gathered some links to important legislation and initiatives on the national level.
Lund: Strategy for a sustainable transport system
For a long time, Lund Municipality has been working successfully to take its transport system in an ever more sustainable direction. This work has attracted much attention at both national and international level. On many occasions the Municipality has received awards for its work. An English version of Lunds strategic document LundaMaTs III can be found here.
Success in ensuring an accessible and attractive environment that promotes sustainable development is dependent on reduced car use and replacing the car with other modes of travel such as public transport, walking and cycling. The individual chooses between the modes of transport available for the journey in question. The mode of transport seen as the most favourable is the one chosen. In order to influence the choice of mode of transport, it is important to change the relative attractiveness of the different ones available. Car dependence can be reduced by creating favourable conditions for more sustainable alternatives and by ensuring that a sustainable mode of transport is the obvious choice – a choice which most people today consider to be the car.
Södertälje: Diet for a green planet
Since 2010, Södertälje Municipality in Sweden has served public school lunches that are healthy for students and the planet. The initiative is known as Diet for a Green Planet. Sara Jervfors who is the Head of the Diet Unit in Södertälje Municipality, says:
”All children have to eat lunch. This meal is a great educational tool and strengthens the local business and agricultural industry. It bolsters self-sufficiency.”
Read more about the initiative and listen to an interview with Sara Jervfors.
Eskilstuna: Home of the world’s first recycling mall
ReTuna Återbruksgalleria is the world’s first recycling mall, revolutionizing shopping in a climate-smart way. Old items are given new life through repair and upcycling. Everything sold is recycled or reused or has been organically or sustainably produced. And the business concept is working: In 2018, ReTuna Återbruksgalleria had SEK 11.7 million in sales for recycled products. ReTuna Återbruksgalleria and Retuna Återvinningscentral are run by the municipality-owned company Eskilstuna Energi och Miljö (EEM).
Uppsala Climate Protocol: A local climate agreement between private and public sectors
The Uppsala Climate Protocol is a local network and a successful example of how the public and private sectors can work together to reduce Uppsala’s climate emissions. In 2010, the City of Uppsala invited local actors operating in different sectors of society and in different industries to jointly take on the climate challenge. Today, the Uppsala Climate Protocol has grown to become an effective instrument in the work of achieving Uppsala’s long-term climate goals; a fossil free Uppsala in 2030 and a climate positive Uppsala in 2050.
The Climate Protocol has, since its start, continuously reduced the joint emissions of greenhouse gases. During the last programme period, which covered the period 2015-2018, the target was to reduce emissions by 4.7 % and energy use by 2.7 %. The results showed a reduction in emissions by a full 10 % and a reduction in energy use by 3.5 %. This was achieved despite both an increase in turnover and a growth in the population of Uppsala during the period.
Read more about the Uppsala Climate Protocol
Vallastaden in Linköping: A dense, green and varied city disctrict
As a city district, Vallastaden is unique in itself. Nearly 1000 residences have been built by 40 different developers – all in record time. The result is a vibrant urban district centered around its residents. The entire project has gone from idea to completion in only five years. Vallastaden has an architectural variety that is rare in most new city districts. Within a single block you will find a mix of detached houses, terrace houses, apartment buildings, student housing and commercial spaces. No single architect has designed two houses standing next to each other. The district is built around central themes of social, environmental and economical sustainability. Many of the innovative aspects of Vallastaden are direct results of challenging the way in which we traditionally build cities. Throughout the process, we have developed The Vallastaden Model – a new model for social planning.
Örebro: Green bonds and impact reporting
Örebro Municipality was the second municipality in Sweden to issue a green bond. In 2014, they launched their first Green Bond Framework along with the issuance of their first green bond. The framework is developed and formulated according to ICMA´s Green Bond Principles 2018. It is the intention of Örebro Municipality to follow best practices in the market as the standards develop. Örebro Municipality also recognizes the importance of impact reporting and are one of the initiators in the Nordic Public Sector Issuers: Joint Position Paper on Green Bonds Impact Reporting. They have contributed actively in this initiative, aiming to advance and progress impact reporting. The first edition of the Position Paper was published in October 2017, available at www.orebro.se.
Örebro Municipality’s Green Bond Framework
Gothenburg: The preschool Hoppet is Sweden’s first fossil-free construction project
Hoppet is an initiative with the purpose of creating better conditions for fossil-free constructions. The first milestone is to build a preschool, constructed as far as possible with fossil-free material and procedures. From resource extraction to construction site and operation. We are looking for ground-breaking actors and entrepreneurs that are willing to join us and make the impossible possible. The purpose is to highlight and push the issue and to inspire the industry to develop new fossil-free products and processes, but also promote and use the ones that already exist. It is a first step towards Gothenburg City, Sweden and the rest of the world’s transformation into a fossil-free society without any climate impact.
Örebro: Smart buildings that reduce, produce, store and share energy with each other
Typically, buildings are end stations for energy. But in the new housing district Tamarinden, the Swedish city of Örebro is creating local conditions for the buildings to be able to reduce, produce, store and share energy with each other, in a way that has never been done before. Just two kilometers from the malls in the city, a stone’s throw from the popular recreation areas and next to the university, about 600 new homes will be created.
Locally produced energy from renewable sources is encouraged, so that the district can become almost self-sufficient. This is done with the help of a local energy grid that all buildings in the Tamarinden disctrict can connect to. In this way it is possible to avoid power consumption peaks that are both expensive and bad for the environment.
”Life between the buildings” is a motto for the new neighbourhood. Tamarind street, which winds its way through the district, will function as an urban living room. Humans will be given the lead role and those wishing to live a car free life will find it easy, thanks to car- and bike pools and good access to public transport. Cars will be parked in peripheral areas.
Contact: Jan Johansson; [email protected]
Uppsala: New market for power flexibility
In january, a new market for power flexibility opened in the Swedish city of Uppsala. The purpose of the market is to make it possible for local actors to unburden the power grid when power peaks occur. The power market sends a clear signal to electricity users to do things that level off the power output over the hours of the day. The electricity users that participate in the market can get paid to be flexible in their use, by for example reducing electricity use or using electricity at other times.
The new power market is a part of the EU innovation project CoordiNet, where new market solutions för the power system are tested on three european countries.
Borås: Zero emission deliveries in the city center
The Good Goods concept has been developed by the municipality of Borås within the Surflogh project. The service was launched in December 2019, and is a zero emission distribution service aimed at parcel deliveries and pickups within the Borås city area. This service operated by a local haulier (Stures åkeri).
A small consolidation terminal is being established just next to the city centre, and an electric distribution van (Volkswagen Crafter) has been aquired for the transports. Initially, the service will handle goods from DHL and other volumes will be added continuously, using the consolidation terminal.
The use of an electric distribution van in itself means a reduction of about 5 tonnes of CO2 annually, or 99% for the deliveries handled within the service (considering WTW perspective for the electricity used, versus conventional diesel). Based on a traffic measurement- and feasibility study performed earlier in the project, consolidation of deliveries to Borås city has the potential to reduce the distribution traffic in the area by more than half.