ENVIRONMENT May 2012

What is done in Stockholm to reduce pollution?

How much eco-conscious is the Swedish society as

regard environment?

Sarek national park located in Northern Sweden

Contents

01 Environmental quality objectives

02 Principal government bodies

03 Nature and population

05 Nature & Youth Sweden

06 Taxes in Sweden

07 Energy in Sweden

08 The waste recycling in Stockholm

09 Reduce the carbon footprint

11 The congestion tax

13 Actions for sustainable development

15 Transports in Stockholm

16 Buses and Cars

17 Environment associations and events

19 Stockholmers and the environment

20 In the next magazine…

The 16 national environmental

quality objectives of the

Swedish government:

The Swedish Riksdag has adopted 16 environmental quality objectives

relating to the quality of Sweden's environment in order to solve all the major environmental problems. Most of them are to be achieved by the year 2020. It is the Environmental Objectives Council which monitors and evaluates the progress of these objectives.

The 16 national environmental quality objectives are:

1. Reduced Climate Impact 2. Clean Air 3. Natural Acidification Only 4. A Non-Toxic Environment 5. A Protective Ozone Layer 6. A Safe Radiation Environment 7. Zero Eutrophication 8. Flourishing Lakes and Streams 9. Good-Quality Groundwater 10. A Balanced Marine Environment, Flourishing Coastal Areas 11. Thriving Wetlands 12. Sustainable Forests 13. A Varied Agricultural Landscape 14. A Magnificent Mountain Landscape 15. A Good Built Environment 16. A Rich Diversity of Plant and Animal Life

Every specific environmental quality objectives is followed and evaluated by government agencies. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, working with all the agencies with responsibilities within the environmental objectives system, has to prepare an overall report to the Government. The results of this follow-up are then presented on the Environmental Objectives Portal.

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Principal government bodies in the environmental

field :

The Ministry of Environement assists the Government in governing Sweden and in applying the Government´s policies. The Ministry of Environment is responsible of the following policy areas: climate, water and seas, nature conservation and biological diversity, sustainable development, sustainable planning and housing environments, international environmental cooperation, chemicals and ecocycles, nuclear safety and radiathetion protection, and environmental legislation, technology and research.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is the

central government agency for coordinating and promoting environmental policy nationally, in the EU and at international level. The Swedish EPA drafts proposals for objectives, action strategies and policy instruments, disseminates information and evaluates the environmental situation.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI) is the central

Swedish regulatory authority for chemical substances and products. KemI implements EC legislation and approvals pesticides before they can be used. KemI has to monitor manufacturers and importers of chemical products.

The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is the central government authority for town and country planning, management of land and water resources, building and housing.

The Environmental Objectives Council promotes

consultation and cooperation in implementing the environmental quality objectives adopted by the Riksdag.

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Nature and population in Sweden

With more than 440 000 square

kilometers, Sweden is the third largest country of the EU in terms of area. However, it is very sparsely populated; with only 22 people per square kilometer whereas the average for the EU is 115.

Nature and climate vary along the length of Sweden, 1 574 kilometers from north to south. The far north lies beyond the Arctic Circle and is a mountainous area with vast marsh. The southernmost area is a flat landscape.

“Forests cover about half

of Sweden”

Sweden is rich in lakes and streams with more than 96 000 lakes.

About 11 per cent of Sweden´s area is now protected, much of it

is located in the north of the country. There are over 3100 nature reserves, over 4 000 Natura 2000 areas and 28 national parks. The national parks have been created in order

to protect a variety of biological and geological environments, but they are also areas of great beauty.

“Nature plays an

important part in Swedish

culture”

The right to walk across any publicly or privately owned land is protected by `allemansrätten´. There must be no damage, animals must not be disturbed and respect must be shown to landowners and others in the countryside. The right of public access is to be enjoyed and appreciated, but must not involve disturbance or destruction.

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Stora Sjöfallet National Park 4

Fältbiologerna - Nature & Youth Sweden : An exemple

of Swedish environmental organization

Nature and Youth

Sweden/Fältbiologerna is a

nationwide association for all

children and young people

interested in nature and in the

protection of environment. This

association is run by children and

young people. It has its own

publishing house, its own

magazine and its own budget.

“What is unique about

Nature & Youth is that

most people are between 6

and 25 years old.”

Nature & Youth was founded in

1947 with focus on nature

studies. When environmental

problems became more and more

present in Sweden, N&Y took a

place as one of the most radical

voices on the issue. Much of the

activities of N&Y are to discover

the relationship between man

and nature and how the change

of the environment affects

humans.

The association has clubs around

the country who have their own

board. They are free to take care

of their money and run their own

business. The clubs have long

been the basis of Nature & Youth

and this activity is particularly

important. They gather up local

involvement and inspire to get

involved with nature and

environmental issues locally.

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Taxes to protect environment

Taxes have been part of the

Swedish environmental policy since a long time, but they only took an important part in the environmental policy in late 1980’s. Indeed it was 1987 when the Environmental Charges Commission (ECC) was appointed that a good number of environmental taxes appeared. Tax on petrol and motor alcohols was already introduced in 1929. The fiscal reform in 1990-91 implied that the environmental taxes were reinforced. In particular it is in 1991 that carbon tax was introduced.

“The revenue from energy

and environmental taxes in

2010 was 90, 5 milliard

SEK.”

This revenue came principally

from the energy tax. In fact energy tax represented 75% of this revenue, whereas tax on transportation represented 17% and tax on pollution only represented 4.5%. It seems that with this taxes government is more trying to earn money than trying to protect environment. However, if these taxes can help to reduce pollution and if the money is invested in research and in renewable energy, we can’t blame the state for having introduced these taxes.

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Energy in Sweden

The parliament and the

population (by a referendum)

agree to give up nuclear energy

in the long term. However, now

this energy represents 50 % of

electricity requirement. The large

number of rivers flowing into the

Gulf of Bothnia explains the big

hydropower potential which

represents about 41 % of the

electricity production.

“In 2009, renewable

energy corresponds to

47% of Sweden total

energy use.”

There are many cases of city

who took the decision to stop

polluting energy: Enköping is

energetically self-sufficient and

her energy is produced in a

power station fed by a locally-

produced combustible. In the

Gotland Island, they expect to be

independent from fossil energy

by 2025 and so, to use 100 %

renewable energy. In term of

renewable energy, Sweden is

ahead of her European neighbors

who are trying to obtain 20% of

renewable energy since 2020.

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The waste recycling in Stockholm: an ambitious concept

“25% of the waste

produced by Stockholm

citizens is recycled”

The City of Stockholm has a

century long tradition of waste incineration and waste-to-energy management. In 2007, the total amount of waste per capita was 597 kg per person and year in Stockholm. The city has an excellent waste treatment system, and uses innovative methods. At a municipal level, local waste management is regulated by the local bylaws on waste collection and disposal for Stockholm municipality. The domestic waste is collected by a contractor whose services are hired by the City of Stockholm.

73.5% of the total waste is turned into production of district heating (energy recovery by

incineration) and 70% of Stockholm households have access to district heating which means that they use “eco-energy. In Stockholm, all foods waste is recycled biogas and fertilizer.

“Stockholm heads

e-waste recycling”

Close to Stockholm, a company

called Mirec which takes old computers, televisions, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers - in fact anything with a cable - and recycles it in metal, plastic, glass. Every Swede gets through around 16kg of electrical goods every year. Impressively they also manage to recycle well over half that amount. Even hazardous wastes are in some cases recycled, indeed the cadmium and the lead can be used in brand new batteries.

8

Other environmental effort in Stockholm to reduce our

carbon footprint

Greenhouse gases

The larger power plants produce

both electricity and heat, known as co-generation. One of the combined power and heating plants is the Högdalen plant, where the city's waste is turned into energy. The emission of greenhouse gases in Stockholm decreases over the period 1990 to 2009. Some of the factors that indicate this are energy use in buildings, trends in car sales, taxes, emission factors, etc.

Within the heating sector, an increasing number of properties are being connected to the district heating system with a corresponding phasing-out of oil and city gas, which is leading to a decrease in net emissions.

“We will together reduce

our carbon dioxide

emissions”

Heat in wastewater is also used for the production of district heating. This has not only reduced CO2 emissions, but also led to reductions in emissions of substances that are health hazardous.

Since 2005, it is calculated that

the emissions of greenhouse gases have decreased from 3,109,000 tons to approximately 2,775,000 tons in 2009, or by 10,7%. On average, this is a decrease of 2,6 % per year. Emissions in 2009 are estimated to be 3, 4 tons per resident in Stockholm.

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The emissions are estimated on the total life cycle of the energy source and include emissions of the above greenhouse gases generated during production and distribution. The geographical limits of the estimates are Stockholm's municipal boundaries. This means that emissions from journeys made by Stockholmers by road, rail, air and ferry outside the municipal boundaries are not included.

The company Vasakronan which is Sweden’s largest property company, with a clear focus on long-term, sustainable property management, decided to help the development of renewable energy in Stockholm by rebuilding a building called Vasagatan 7.

The building has been transformed from an enclosed building into a modern office block with shops and restaurants at street level with new environmental technologies; indeed, The new development is

based on a Green Building concept, which focuses on creating intelligent, energy-saving solutions for electricity, lighting and ventilation.

The compact concrete

facade has been replaced by an intricate system of glass boxes and extruded metal areas. During the day the building reflects its surroundings but at night it becomes transparent and illuminated.

But Vasagatan 7 is not the only one, indeed, Vasakronan owns and manages 303 properties covering a floor space of 3.2 million square metres in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund and Uppsala which means that they have a large space to develop high efficiency buildings.

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The congestion tax: “An important tax”

The congestion tax is charged

for certain vehicles driven in to, and out of the inner city of Stockholm, between 6:30 am and 6:30 pm Monday to Friday.

The tax is intended to improve traffic flow, contribute to improvements in the urban environment and raise money for investment in the transport network in the Stockholm area. The Stockholm congestion tax was implemented on a permanent basis on 1 August 2007.

The main aims of the toll are: a gain of time for Stockholmers, reduce CO2, decrease usage of polluting cars and of course an economic gain for the city.

In fact the toll charges polluting cars which wanted to go to Stockholm because there is no taxes for cars that according to

the Swedish Road Administration's vehicle registry are equipped for propulsion with entirely or partially with electricity, or other fuel gas than liquefied petroleum gas, or with a fuel mixture that predominantly consists of alcohol.

To deal with congestion and traffic disturbances, traffic to and from the city centre has declined by an average of almost 20 % in one year.

“Greenhouse gas emissions

in Stockholm have

decreased by just over 1%

as a result of congestion

tax."

Congestion tax have

contributed to an increase in the number of clean vehicles in Stockholm from 3 % in January 2006 to 15 % in 2009, since clean vehicles registered before 2009 are exempt from congestion tax until the year 2012. (Cf graph)

11

The new district of Hammarby Sjöstad (Hammarby Waterfront), Stockholm with high efficient buildings.

12

Actions for the sustainable development

“Stockholm was named Europe’s first Green Capital”

The vice-mayor aim regarding environment is that by 2015

Stockholmers will together reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to three tonnes per head. That is a 44 % drop since 1990.

Many pacts had been set up to encourage sustainable development and to build eco-districts in Stockholm next to companies and Stockolmers:

CLIMATE + : Launched in May 2009 by the former US president Bill Clinton, The Stockholm Royal Seaport environmental area is one of 17 projects that are part of Climate+. The Stockholm Royal seaport will create 10,000 apartments and 30,000 work places. Stockholm Royal Seaport is aiming to be fossil fuel free by 2030, while the entire City of Stockholm is aiming for 2050. By 2020, residents and workers in Stockholm Royal Seaport should produce less than 1,5 tonnes of carbon emissions per person. The entire development project will focus on sustainable transport solutions, building ecologically efficient, energy conservation and energy efficiency, and on the whole adapted to the future requirement of climate change.

Project size: 246 Hectares. Project developers: City of Stockholm in cooperation with private developers and public housing companies.

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THE CLIMATE PACT: created on 27 September 2007, it’s cooperation between the City of Stockholm and active company in the region. The goal was that the City and its business community would muster their strengths to reduce the impact on climate of those who live and work there. Each member company takes part according to its own prerequisites but the joint goal is a distinct focus on reducing climate impact of their activity. The Climate Pact constitutes a place that work purposefully with environmental and climate issues. It’s a cooperative effort but also a place of exchange of knowledge, crating development and experience. The goal is that all participants in the Climate Pact shall reduce their emissions by 10 % by 2011 and anew 10 % by 2012 or meet some of the targets in Stockholm’s environmental programme. One of the conditions of their environmental pact is a sustainable growth of all the companies.

Example: Electrolux contributes to reduced CO2 emission during the household electrical production. Their best refrigerator now consumes 70 % less energy than the average consumption 15 years ago and energy efficiency means reduced CO2 emissions.

At the end of 2008 Electrolux had reduced energy consumption by 14.5 % compared to 2005 levels–just under the 2009 target and one year ahead of schedule. This means a reduction in CO2 emissions of 90,000 tonnes, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 40,000 cars. Each year, Electrolux invests SEK 2 billion (225 million d’€) to develop new, more ecologic and smart product.

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Transports in Stockholm

“Stockholm, the green city”

Stockholm has reduced its CO2

emissions by 25% since 1990 and aims to stop using no fossil fuels by 2050.

Sustainable mobility is one of the solutions of course. Stockholm wants to encourage residents and tourists to adopt alternative means of transport like public transport and cycling.

The Stockholm Central Station is the heart of the sector Swedish railways. The City offers a metro, suburban trains, trams and buses.

Stockholmståg, the operator of the commuter trains, has chosen Alstom Transport this summer to take care of maintenance of 135 suburban trains over a period of 5 years.

The contract, worth 107 million euros, includes the complete maintenance of 71 Coradia

Nordic Alstom has already supplied to Storstockholms Lokaltrafik and 12 others that will be delivered in 2012 and maintenance of 52 older trains suburban manufactured by ASEA. The objective is to improve the availability and performance of this fleet.You should know that 77% of Stockholmers use public transport with buses running with biogas.

On the number of cyclists, it increased by 75% over the last ten years! Indeed, Stockholm offers numerous bike paths and continues to give birth to new paths. Today, the city has 760 km of bicycle paths

We can see that this Swedish city has the willingness and ability to solve environmental problems and that in view of improving the quality of life for its citizens and reduce their environmental footprint.

15

Buses and cars

“Ambitious goals to

improve the quality of life”

Stockholm is a city of 800,000

inhabitants growing which has set itself the ambitious goal to give up fossil fuels by 2050. The city has implemented an integrated management system that ensures the inclusion of environmental aspects into the city's budget, operational planning, reporting and monitoring of its activities. The Swedish capital fight against congestion, local pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases (including those of heating and electricity generation). Its objective is to stop using fossil fuels by 2020 to 2030 for transport and heating. Currently, nearly 95% of residents of the capital live within 300 m of green space, which improves their quality of life, while facilitating the purification of water and

reducing noise and promoting biodiversity. Buses account for 75% of traffic during peak hours. In addition, 120 of them operate on biogas and ethanol to 535 (out of about 2,000).This is the largest fleet of ethanol buses in the world. By 2020, the entire fleet of buses should run on biofuels and collecting food waste for biogas production should increase from 4 500 to 18,000 tons between 2008 and 2012.

The municipal car fleet follows

the same path. Which implies, among other things, a network of forty distribution stations? Subway and commuter trains run on electricity from renewable sources - in this case of hydroelectricity. Since 2008, the city is involved in creating

infrastructure for electric cars and testing of PHEVs (plug-in) that can be powered with different fuels.

16

Environment associations and events

Throughout the years, Stockhol

m celebrates its title of European Green Capital by many events. Twenty conferences are planned on sustainable development issues. Exhibitions are also planned at the cultural center of Stockholm. This space has an ecoteca, media center dedicated to the environment. The Swedish capital helps to become familiar with sustainable development in Europe, as is the title of Green Capital 2010, like the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, having met at Stockholm from 5 to 16 June 1972, having considered the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment.

The most important association for environment in Stockholm is

the SEI. SEI was established in 1989 as an initiative of the Government of Sweden . The name of the Stockholm Environment Institute is derived from the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. This association is directed by Johan Kuylenstierna. SEI has a total staff of about 180 and operates through seven main offices, like Stockholm, Oxford or Boston.

The Stockholm Environment

Institute is a non-profit, independent research and policy institute specializing in sustainable development and environmental issues. SEI's mission is to "support decision-making and induce change towards sustainable development around the world by providing integrative knowledge that bridges science and policy in the field of environment and development." SEI is commissioned to write reports by third parties which are frequently quoted in the press.

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The SEI’s specialist programs are the following:

- The Ecological Sanitation Research Program (EcoSanRes) is a research and capacity development program that aims to develop and promote sustainable sanitation in the developing world through capacity development and knowledge management as a contribution to equity, health, poverty alleviation, and improved environmental quality.

- The Long range Energy Alternatives Planning system is a proprietary, Windows-based software system for energy and environmental policy analysis. It is widely used for integrated energy planning and climate change mitigation analysis and has been applied in hundreds of different organizations in over 140 countries. LEAP is developed and supported by the US Center of the Stockholm Environment Institute, a non-profit research institute based at Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts. Most recently LEAP has been chosen by 85 countries as the main modeling tool for the climate change mitigation assessments that will be presented to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) LEAP is distributed at no charge to not-for-profit, academic and governmental organizations based in developing countries.

18

Stockholmers and the environment

“Stockholm, the

life in green”

Today, 40% of

Stockholm’s surface

is now made up of

green space, more

than 90% of

Stockholmers live

within 300 meters of a park, 77%

of them use public transport, 70%

of households are connected to

district heating, and CO2

emissions show a decrease of

25% since 1990. And with the toll

road for cars of 2006, the subway

saw the number of its users up to

25 000 per day, followed by

buses, which recorded an

increase of 16,000 users. Same

enthusiasm for cycling, with no

less than150 000 followers (twice

a decade ago) of the 760

kilometers of bike paths that

crisscross the capital.

The Stockholmers use renewable

energies too. As the geothermic

energy for their houses or the

solar panels. But they use around

200 liters of water per day and

person contrary to the Parisians

who use around 80 liters.

19

In the next

magazine…

In the next magazine we are going

to visit Italia, the country of

Michelangelo, to see if Italians are

as eco-conscious as Swedish

people.

We hope you learnt more about

environment protection in

Sweden.

Thank you for reading.

The editorial staff

Games…