CCE Country Profile
Sweden
Table of Contents
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This profile has been reviewed by country experts.
CONTEXT
I) Climate change context
Sweden is located in northern Europe and has a landmass of about 408,000 km2. With only 10 million inhabitants, it is one of Europe’s least populated countries. Sweden’s primary industries are based on trade, according to the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal. According to the Global Carbon Atlas (2019), Sweden has low emissions relative to other high-income countries and ranks in a mid-level position.
Energy consumption is exceptionally high in Sweden due to its long winters, and the country’s high amount of agriculture places an additional challenge on the country, as stated in the 7th National Communication (2017). According to Climate Watch Data (2020), Sweden is one of the most climate-ready countries while at the same time being one of the least affected by climate change.
Sweden is an Annex 1 (industrialized) country according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The government signed and ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016, signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, and ratified it in 2002. The country accepted the Doha Amendment in 2017.
Sweden has been a leader in many developments related to climate change. For instance, it was the first country to establish an Environmental Protection Agency in 1967. Notably, in 2018, climate activist Greta Thunberg started the #FridaysforFutures movement in front of the Swedish Parliament to encourage the government to take climate action more seriously.
II) Relevant government agencies
Climate change
Sweden has 32 government agencies and administrative boards engaged in climate change processes. While the Ministry of the Environment is responsible for climate and environmental policies, it is supported by various actors. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is one of the key agencies in Sweden and houses the UNFCCC ACE Focal Point. The EPA coordinates climate change efforts in collaboration with other ministries and agencies and is in charge of climate communication. Swedish government agencies involved in climate change are steered by the 2017 National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) is responsible for analyzing the work of other ministries involved in climate change and acts as a knowledge hub for climate change. The SMHI also runs the Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation. The Knowledge Centre houses the National Network for Adaptation, which focuses on information-sharing and societal change for climate action. In addition, the government has appointed the Swedish National Expert Council for Climate Adaptation to support climate change adaptation.
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) publishes guides and materials on how to deal with climate change-related emergencies. The agency is responsible for civil protection, public safety, emergency management, and civil defence when no other authority has responsibility.
At regional and local levels, county administrative boards and municipalities are involved in developing climate adaptation measures; for example, by developing their climate change adaptation plans. The country has mechanisms in place to monitor climate adaptation at local and regional levels.
Education and communication
The Swedish National Agency for Education is in charge of formal education. The Agency provides support to schools in several aspects, including the development of formal education curricula for preschool, primary, secondary, adult education, and vocational schools. The Agency also organizes training programs, and monitoring processes, as well as guides for the schools in climate-related topics.
The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is responsible for different tasks, including the dissemination of Swedish universities’ information, university admission, university examination, international cooperation and exchange, among others. On the other hand, the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) evaluates the quality of higher education and research and it is responsible for official statistics and monitoring legislation among universities. These two bodies are the pillars of higher education in Sweden, regionally and internationally. Due to the highly independent nature of Sweden’s universities, the two agencies play primarily an advisory and monitoring function in terms of climate change.
The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education is a government agency responsible for issues on higher vocational education in the country, ensuring that courses meet the needs of working life. The agency analyses the market to include courses, fosters State funding and is also responsible for courses in art and culture. In addition, monitoring, supervision of complaints, the quality of education and production of statistics are also within the Agency’s scope. Parallel, organizations such as the Swedish National Agency for Education implement Adult Education initiatives in primary and secondary schools. In addition, the Swedish National Council of Adult Education is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that contributes to the distribution and assessment of financial means to folk high schools and study associations. In 2022, the Swedish government also encouraged universities and college universities to introduce new frameworks to strengthen access to education for lifelong learning. This was done to make available courses and programs that are aimed at already working professionals.
III) Relevant laws, policies, and plans
Climate change
Sweden has adopted several codes and laws relevant to climate change, and there has been an increase in specific climate change regulations over time. Codes and laws have the same status in Sweden, where a code usually incorporates multiple laws.
One key component of Swedish legislation is the Environmental Quality Objectives System, in particular, objective 1 “Reduced Climate Impact”.
Sweden adopted its Environmental Code in 1998. The code is primarily about ecologically sustainable development, and climate change is not mentioned. Nevertheless, the environmental code contains important regulations for climate change, such as waste and agricultural regulations. The Swedish Government established an inquiry on a Climate-Adapted Swedish Environmental Code in 2019 with the aim of investigating how to adapt the Environmental Code to increase its effectiveness as a tool for reaching the national climate objectives. The results of the Inquiry will be reported in 2022.
In 2009, the Swedish Government passed the Integrated Climate and Energy Policy (S 2008/09:162 and 163). The policy focuses on raising awareness of climate issues among Sweden’s leadership and sets Sweden’s ambitious climate-related goals, such as reducing emissions by 40% compared to 1990 by 2020.
The first Swedish Climate Act (2017:720) was adopted in 2017 and came into effect on January 1, 2018, with the broad support of most political parties. The Climate Act mandated the development of a national Climate Action Plan every four years. The first plan was published at the end of 2019 and shows a significant gap between goals and action. It also recognizes that the country’s climate change plans do not sufficiently attend to gender issues.
The Climate Act is part of a larger Climate Policy Framework enacted by the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) in 2017. The Framework commits Sweden to having zero net emissions by 2045 and established the Climate Policy Council to carry out independent assessments of the country’s progress. The Climate Policy Council’s latest assessment report (2021) notes the importance of shaping new narratives for societal transformations towards achieving climate goals in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
In 2018, the Swedish Parliament adopted the National Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation (2017/18:163), which outlines plans to retrofit existing buildings and implement improved strategies for new construction, including schools. Concrete measures for education and communication are not included, although it seeks to increase knowledge about climate change in Sweden. The plan will be updated every five years. The Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation specifies climate adaptation:
Climate adaptation in society is subject to many different forms of regulation and is based on the participation and knowledge of many agents. Regulations concerning processes, knowledge development, mutual preparedness and the division of responsibility are included in several different laws. (Klimatanpassning.se)
Ordinance (2018:1428) by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy came into force in January 2019. It establishes how climate adaptation works in government agencies, places responsibility on the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute for monitoring climate adaptation in Swedish agencies and lays out a framework for measuring training initiatives.
Education and communication
The 2010 Swedish Education Act regulates education in the country, defines the Swedish education system, and distributes responsibilities. The Act aims for children and students to acquire and develop knowledge and values, promoting the development and learning as well as a lifelong desire to learn in the pupils.
The Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class and School-Age Educare (2011, last revised 2022), is the National Curriculum Framework of Sweden for all compulsory schools. The Curriculum embraces the Swedish Education Act foundations and it establishes the guidelines, learning expectations, goals, syllabus basis, among other educational aspects that frame the Swedish educational system.
The National Curriculum is supplemented by the Curriculum for Preschool (Last revised in 2018) and includes a holistic perspective, in which preschool education lays the foundation for lifelong learning, which must be enjoyable, secure, and rich in learning. The curriculum also considers sustainable development learning aspects, under the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental), stating that education should allow students to coin an ecological and caring approach to their surrounding environment, nature, and society.
Further, the Curriculum for Upper Secondary School (2013) establishes the goals related to the knowledge, norms and values that students should acquire through a variety of learning dimensions when completing their schooling, including environmental and sustainable development perspectives that provide the students insights to contribute on national and global environmental issues.
The Swedish Education system also integrates a curriculum for the Sami School for all levels of education. The curriculum is also aligned with the foundations and values of the 2010 Swedish Education Act, which focuses on promoting an environmental perspective through which students can get the opportunity to take responsibility for the environment and extend their critical thinking on global environmental issues. The curriculum establishes that teaching should highlight how society functions and how our way of living and working can be adapted to create sustainable development.
Regarding tertiary education, the Swedish Higher Education Act (1992, last amendment in 2021) establishes the provisions for Swedish higher education institutions that are accountable to the government. The act also embraces sustainable development approaches.
The Higher Education Ordinance (1993, last amendment in 2023) is a supplement to the Higher Education Act and stipulates the provision for higher education institutions as well as expected learning outcomes for students in a variety of careers and programs, including teachers training of different educational levels. Sustainable development aspects are also considered in the Ordinance, stating that teacher’s students must:
“demonstrate the ability to make assessments in the pedagogical work based on relevant scientific, societal and ethical aspects with particular consideration of human rights, in particular, the rights of the child according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as sustainable development.”
IV) Terminology used for climate communication and education
The terminology used for climate change communication and education in the Swedish materials examined by this review is often referred to as climate adaptation (Klimatanpassning). In this regard, climate adaptation is defined in the Ordinance (2018) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy as
“Measures that seek to protect the environment, human life and health, and property by adapting society to the consequences that a changed climate may bring, and agency objectives: objectives for the climate adaptation work of an agency within its own sphere of operations.”
– Ordinance (2018: n.p.)
In the Swedish formal education system, education for sustainable development is the core of the educational guidelines. Environmental and climate change perspectives can also be found intrinsically along educational curricula and educational materials. For instance, the Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class and School-Age Educare (2011, last revised 2022) mentions ‘global environmental issues’, and establishes that one of the Swedish school missions is
“An environmental perspective enables [students] to take responsibility for the environment they can directly influence and to adopt a personal approach to general and global environmental issues. Education shall highlight how the functions of society and our way of living and working can be adapted to create sustainable development.”
– Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class and School-Age Educare (2011, p.8)
The Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class, and School-Age Educare also includes other terms related to climate change. The curriculum establishes that teaching Geography shall give students the:
“(…) prerequisites for developing knowledge of environmental and development issues linked to climate change, human access to and use of natural resources, and population issues and living conditions in different parts of the world. This shall enable pupils to analyse and reflect on different solutions to current and future global challenges based on ecological, social and economic perspectives on sustainable development.”
– Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class, and School-Age Educare, (2022, p. 220)
According to the 7th National Communication (2017), Sweden uses the language adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and communicates climate change knowledge as Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE).
V) Budget for climate communication and education
The Swedish government offers many programs that fund climate change adaptation measures, as listed on the Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation. Yet, none of those options has a climate change communication or climate change education focus.
In its 2021 Budget, the Swedish government planned to spend US$ 14.2 million (SEK 118 million) on climate adaptation, US$ 30.2 million (250 million SEK) for international climate investments, US$ 231.5 million (1.9 billion SEK) on national climate investments, and US$ 32.6 million (SEK 270 million) on climate rewards. It is not clear how much of this money is dedicated to climate change communication or climate change education. Yet, in the detailed description of climate adaptation, the Government of Sweden notes its 2021 climate budget is dedicated to:
“Knowledge-raising initiatives, investigations, coordination, and plans. An important part of the work of adapting to climate change is raising awareness efforts to support the organization, municipalities, and the business community. Knowledge about climate change and its effects should be further increased to enable decisions that lead to effective measures.”
– Government of Sweden 2021 Climate Budget, p. 74
Swedish research councils fund research on climate change communication, as well as communication activities to some extent. For example, the Research Council Formas has a yearly call for communicating and popularizing sustainable development research, which includes climate change. Moreover, the Swedish Research Council is the largest government research financier in the country and provides support in all scientific fields, including grant calls for research on topics related to climate change, sustainable development, and natural sciences, among others.
Further, Vinnova is a government agency under the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise, and the national contact authority for the EU framework programme for research and innovation. The agency promotes innovation that contributes to sustainable growth in the country aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (2030). Vinnova also implements funding initiatives related to environmental affairs, sustainable development, and climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE COUNTRY
I) Climate change in pre-primary, primary, and secondary education
Sweden has a decentralized education system which gives its schools and teachers great flexibility for organizing their classes. The education system in the country follows a goal-oriented framework, meaning that schools are responsible for achieving the goals and learning outcomes. A description of the types of climate change-related keywords discussed in the curricula can be found in the MECCE Project Monitoring section of this profile.
The educational framework in Sweden encourages all educational sectors to implement a holistic view, where the development and learning process is integrative. This holistic view included education for sustainable development approaches. For instance, the Curriculum for Preschool (last revised 2018) aims at allowing students to develop knowledge on how the different choices that people make can contribute to sustainable development, economically, socially and environmentally.
The Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class and School-Age Educare (2011, last revised 2022) includes among its mission environmental approaches, encouraging students to be responsible for the environment and promoting also daily live activities to be aligned to sustainable development. The curriculum invites teachers and schools to implement this sustainable development view along the different sectors and levels of the educational system throughout a variety of learning dimensions. For instance, the preschool curriculum and school-age education sections mention that teachers should cover in their core content “how people’s everyday choices can contribute to sustainable development”. (p.26;p.30). Explicit mentions of climate change are also included in the curriculum, mainly in natural sciences subjects (Geography 7-9 and Physics 7-9). For example, Geography 7-9 states that teachers should cover a sustainable development section that includes “what climate is and factors that affect climate. Human impact on climate and the consequences of climate change for people, society and nature in different parts of the world”. (p.223)
In addition to the government curriculum, different organizations provide material for schools to better include climate change into their curricula and school lives. For example, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) website includes links to diverse information and concrete learning models on climate change for schools.
Under the Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation, various public authorities cooperate in producing educational materials about climate adaptation. Often climate change-focused educational materials developed by various actors reflect those organizations’ priorities. For example, the Swedish Geotechnical Institute has material about geotechnical risks and climate change. Climate change is also included in materials about risks and accidents which were developed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency.
In its 7th National Communication (2017), Sweden reports that the Swedish National Agency for Education and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency “clarified the connection between curriculum and syllabus and the national environmental goal Reduced Climate Impact.” (p.123). The National Communication indicates that in-depth teaching of climate change in Sweden is usually done at the upper secondary level. The National Communication also lists many different examples of climate change programs for students. The document also provides material about transport and energy efficiency in relation to the formal education system.
None of the recently released climate change policy documents in Sweden address climate change education in formal school settings. As Sweden is part of the European Union, the government does not develop Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) specifically for Sweden. The EU Nationally Determined Contributions (2020) focuses primarily on emissions reduction and does not include climate change communication and education.
II) Climate change in teacher training and teacher resources
Teacher training in Sweden is done by university-based education programs that prepare teachers with pedagogical strategies on a wide range of education focuses, including climate change. This can be seen by the variety of programs on offer. Courses with climate change approaches can be found at different universities, for instance, Stockholm University offers the course Climate Change and Solutions from Teaching and Learning Perspectives, which is a multidisciplinary course that includes didactic aspects of climate change, and targeted teaching practices for teaching to students in grades 4-9 and upper secondary school.
Other actors also cooperate in offering teacher training programs outside of higher education institutions. For example, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has developed didactic materials for teachers on society preparedness in case of crisis and war. The County Administrative Board of Norrbotten has also developed materials for teachers such as Slushy winters and long summers, which include climate and environmental aspects.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute published a guide for climate adaptation in schools (n.d.) which shows teachers how to incorporate climate change adaptation into their existing knowledge and include it in all subjects in engaging ways. The guide uses four perspectives to enable students to see the connections between climate change topics: 1) the ethical perspective, which encourages students to make personal decisions; 2) the environmental perspective, which situates climate change into a larger context and brings in sustainable development; 3) the international perspective, which aims to enhance international solidarity; and 4) the historical perspective, which shows that the way we think is based on past actions that will also shape the future. In addition, the guide uses principles from education for sustainable development, such as holistic viewpoints and diverse approaches similar to systems thinking and the whole institution approach advocated for in UNESCO’s education for sustainable development programs.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute has also produced the guide The Climate is Changing and it Affects You: A Knowledge Base For Working With “Learning For Sustainable Development (n.d.), which helps teachers plan their lessons and locate additional resources. The guide provides information on how and why the climate is changing; what climate change means for society; what can be done to mitigate the impacts of climate change; and how society can adapt to climate change.
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute’s website includes fa ew materials specifically about climate change: most of the materials are related to sustainable development. For example, Halmstad University and the Swedish National Agency for Education have developed a learning portal specifically for sustainable development. The portal focuses on teachers, school leaders, and practitioners, and includes content on climate change issues, such as a teacher guide on climate anxiety.
Finally, Sweden’s 7th National Communication (2017) mentions training programs for teachers to educate them about low energy consumption. This is part of Sweden’s focus on adapting buildings to climate change and reducing energy consumption. The document mentions that many courses on the “scientific basics of the climate and/or climate-related subjects like energy and forestry” (p. 123) are offered in higher education institutions. Several networks and competence centres that accumulate and disseminate knowledge are noted in the National Communication. This includes the Centre for Climate and Safety (currently called Centre for Societal Risk Research, CRS) at Karlstad University and the Centre for Climate and Environmental Research at Lund University.
III) Climate change in higher education
The two main organizations in charge of higher education in Sweden are The Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) and The Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ). Both organizations publish reports and host events concerning climate change. Yet, those events are organized ad hoc, and this review was unable to locate an overall strategic plan for climate change in Swedish higher education.
In 2017, the UKÄ published a report called Universities and Colleges’ work to promote Sustainable Development which describes what each Swedish higher education institution is doing concerning sustainable development. The report explicitly addresses environmental topics and climate change. It also describes several different climate change-related initiatives being carried out by Swedish universities and colleges, ranging from the inclusion of climate change education into nursing programs about global health to climate issues in engineering programs. According to the report, several higher education institutions were not explicitly addressing climate change. Rather, they were focusing on sustainable development as per the Swedish Higher Education Act.
A review of the Swedish website for university admissions found over 200 courses in the fall 2021 semester related to climate change in Swedish and 7 in English. This shows that climate change education at Swedish higher education institutions is widely available.
In general, Swedish Higher Education Institutions are strongly involved in climate change decision-making processes and knowledge development. The Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation lists the most prominent research and education programs at Swedish universities. For example, some renowned research centers include:
- The Centre for Societal Risk Research, Karlstad University
- The Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research (CSPR), Linköping University
- The Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC), Lund University
- The Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University
- Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
- Sustainability Learning and Research Centre (SWEDESD), Uppsala University
These research centers each have different expertise and research interests, including policy analysis, links to health, and studies about pedagogy. In addition, many of these centers develop and share educational and communication material to engage with the public.
The Climate Framework for Higher Education Institutions-Guidelines was developed by Chalmers University and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology to engage Swedish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in climate action. Participating institutions commit to implementing measures to keep global warming below 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels by 2030. A total of 37 HEIs had signed the framework at the time of data collection.
The latest Research Bill also mentions communication as an important part of the national research program on climate change (Section 8.1.1).
Sweden’s 7th National Communication stresses that the country is heavily involved in international research projects and initiatives, with higher education institutions being at the core of these initiatives. The document describes initiatives ranging from European to global projects, from the Arctic Circle to the equator. Further, the National Communication continuously highlights the use of research carried out by Swedish universities to inform the country’s decision-making on climate change policy.
IV) Climate change in training and adult learning
The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education and the Swedish National Council of Adult Education are the country’s two most important lifelong learning and adult education organizations. While there are some references to climate change on the two organizations’ websites, none of Sweden’s climate change policies mention adult learning. Instead, training initiatives are primarily referenced in relation to development aid programs.
Higher Vocational Education (Yrkeshogskolan) is a post-secondary institution that offers education that combines theoretical and practical studies in close cooperation with employers and industry. The institution provides education and training in different fields and has strong climate and sustainability themes. A growing number of programs include climate adaptation themes in response to increased Swedish public interest. As a result, these centers provide educational opportunities for people in Sweden to learn new skills and become qualified technicians in relation to green technology sectors.
In terms of adult education and lifelong learning, the Folkhögskolan (which means “adult learning institutions” or literally people high school), provide adult education. Sweden has a complex system for lifelong learning. Discussions about climate change can be found frequently in these institutions; for example, being incorporated into democracy or human rights questions. “Folkbildning” is another type of popular adult education, which often takes the format of study circles which provide the general public with the opportunity to discuss climate change in an educational setting. Folkhögskolan and study associations often offer courses related to the SDGs and climate-related issues.
Sweden offers many different training possibilities in public and private institutions, often with government support. These training opportunities range from training government policy-makers to international training programs for people from developing countries. For instance, the Advanced International Training Program on Climate Change – Mitigation and Adaptation (ITP 309) is Sweden’s program to train decision-makers in developing countries. According to its website, the program “focuses on how to integrate available climate information holistically to facilitate sustainable adaptation measures, and therefore places great emphasis on the end-users of climate information, as well as on technical and hands-on content” (n.p.).
Further, Sweden offers specific training programs for a variety of stakeholder groups. For example, various municipalities offer web-based training to prepare local communities to react adequately to climate change. In addition, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) offers tailor-made courses and training for businesses and other organizations on climate change.
According to the 7th National Communication, private companies take environment and climate training to receive environmental certifications to international standards such as ISO and EMAS.
CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATION IN THE COUNTRY
I) Climate change and public awareness
Sweden follows different strategies when aiming to raise awareness among the Swedish population. Some initiatives aim to initiate behaviour change by providing more information on climate change. For example, in its 2019 Documentation for the Government Climate Action Policy Plan, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines its initiatives to strengthen climate-smart consumption. The policy states: “Information initiatives for the general public can help raise awareness and make climate-smart choices easier. Also, control connected marketing communication can contribute to climate-smart consumption” (p. 198).
In 2016, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) produced a policy brief entitled Building Bridges and Changing Minds: Insights from Climate Communication Research and Practice, which is built on the assumption that “effective climate communication is crucial to building the momentum and on-the-ground engagement from the Paris Agreement” (p.119). The policy brief is frequently quoted in Sweden’s communication material, suggesting that climate communication is seen as very important in Sweden.
One of Sweden’s most extensive awareness campaigns is the Fossil Free Sweden campaign to make Sweden the first welfare state to not use fossil fuel by 2045. The project, which runs from 2016 to 2024, has different challenges and strategies to encourage the public to adopt a fossil-free lifestyle. For example, the project has launched a challenge to, “Set up a policy for internal travel tax on carbon-heavy business travel and use the funds for climate action” (n.p.) for businesses.
Another example is CRESCENDO (Coordinated Research in Earth Systems and Climate: Experiments, Knowledge, Dissemination, and Outreach), coordinated by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). CRESCENDO is an international project which aims to improve knowledge of the earth’s climate in a range of target audiences. According to the CRESCENDO website, SMHI is responsible for the project’s knowledge dissemination. The project’s dissemination portion aims to inform “policy and decision-makers, the international climate research community, climate impacts, and regional downscaling communities, adaptation, and mitigation researchers and the general public.” (n.p.)
The 7th National Communication (2017) states that “the overall objective of climate communication in Sweden is to provide useful knowledge and tools to mitigate climate change and adapt to climate change. Moreover, the communication activities are aimed to enhance other climate policy instruments and measures”. (p. 30)
Sweden’s 7th National Communication reports that climate change awareness in the country is generally high, although sustainability is discussed considerably more. Furthermore, the National Communication indicates that consumption is increasingly being associated with climate change in Sweden, leading to a growing number of initiatives tackling this issue.
Finally, the 7th National Communication indicates that the Swedish EPA strategic communication on climate change is action-oriented, and focuses on cross-sectoral synergies in relation to sustainable transport planning and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
II) Climate change and public access to information
The Swedish federal government runs two main websites that provide information about climate change. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s website includes a comprehensive list of Sweden’s climate change-related initiatives, policies, and other information. The website includes Panorama, a visual tool to show climate change impacts in Sweden, films that explain climate change in an accessible way, a series of webinars called Waiting for the Climate Forum, and information on how each person can reduce their climate impact.
The second website, the Swedish Portal for Climate Change Adaptation, provides information on climate change initiatives and projects, links to games and movies, and provides best practice examples. The Portal is run by the Swedish National Knowledge Centre for Climate Change Adaptation, hosted at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), and is available in English and Swedish. The SMHI lists several resources, with a strong focus on films and games. Formal education as well as other actors are the target audience. A notable example of climate change education from the Portal is a computer game developed by SMHI that teaches young people about difficult decisions when dealing with climate change. The game makes the player responsible for decision-making for a small Swedish city and links climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to the more general websites described above, different Swedish ministries and agencies provide specific information on climate change targeted towards the public. For example, the Swedish Energy Agency runs a website designed to help Swedish households reduce their energy consumption. The Swedish Consumer Agency has a website which informs the public about climate-friendly consumer choices, such as Nordic Ecolabel, Good Environmental Choice, and the EU Ecolabel. The Consumer Agency also has a website with information about CO2 emissions, the economy, safety, and vehicles’ fuel consumption. These websites are all part of a national strategy to establish and encourage environmentally-friendly consumption patterns. Also part of the strategy is the Stockholm Environment Institute and WWF launched the mobile-friendly climate calculator “Klimatkalkylatorn” to check one’s greenhouse gas emissions. Various other examples and initiatives are mentioned in the 7th National Communication (2017).
According to the 7th National Communication (2017), Sweden produces a great deal of research on climate change and provides the information free of charge. The country indicates it experiences challenges with making the information easy to understand and accessible for all; however, the National Communication notes the country is making efforts to change this.
III) Climate change and public participation
The Government of Sweden highly encourages public participation in relation to climate change and supports NGOs, Think Tanks, Businesses, and others in their efforts to engage with climate change policies. One example is the National Network for Adaptation, which brings together several national and regional government agencies to “strengthen society’s ability to deal with the positive and negative effects of climate change.” (n.p.). The network cooperates with the website Klimatanpassning.se and produces a newsletter.
Swedish NGOs and networks play an important part in public debate by providing spaces to meet, discuss, debate, and action. The 7th National Communication (2017) lists a large number of organizations, including the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Sweden’s largest environmental organization; the Haga Initiative, a business network that works to reduce emissions from the business sector; and Stormwarning, a network of musicians, artists, researchers, experts, and climate communicators. Other organizations are listed on the Swedish Climate Website.
The 7th National Communication reports on special initiatives to increase public participation through meetings, consultation procedures, seminars, and hearings. The country uses democratization processes to increase participation, and many initiatives happen at local and regional levels. For example, Sweden’s municipalities have energy and climate advisers that help citizens for free and can assist with diverse issues, such as advising businesses on using less energy.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
I) Country monitoring
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regularly measures public knowledge and attitudes towards climate change via the Attitude Survey and the Climate Communication Survey. These surveys have used almost the same questions since 2002, allowing for longitudinal comparisons.
The latest attitude survey from 2018 shows that 95% of Swedes believe that climate change will impact the country. At the same time, 80% of Swedes think that the impact of climate change can be slowed down, and 78% believe that they can do something to reduce climate change. The 2020 Climate Communication Survey found similar trends. The survey found a significant difference in climate anxiety among the different generations, with young people in urban centers being the most worried. In terms of availability of information, 64% of respondents felt the availability of information on climate issues corresponds to their needs and wishes while 12% believed there is too much information and 11% wanted more information.
The Society, Opinion, and Media (SOM) Institute at Gothenburg University conducts surveys on different topics. A survey from 2020 found that climate change is among the top five issues that Swedes are concerned about.
In 2019, the European Union conducted a special Eurobarometer survey on climate change, which indicated that 93% of Europeans see climate change as a severe problem. The same percentage said they have done at least one thing to tackle climate change. The Eurobarometer survey was conducted face to face and indicated that Swedes are more committed to climate action than the European average; particularly concerning food purchases and means of transportation when going on holiday.
The Swedish School Inspectorate reviewed the work of national schools on teaching and learning for sustainable development, as a result of this review they launched a report in 2023. The Inspectorate assessed 30 primary schools from public and independent sectors, including the review of all school units of grades 7-9. According to the Inspectorate, there is often a lack of common understanding of what learning for sustainable development is. The report highlights three important observations:
- Greater knowledge about education for sustainable development in teachers may increase student involvement.
- Few schools manage to reach a high quality in their work on education for sustainable development.
- A more pronounced governance may promote the work on education for sustainable development.
While the Swedish National Agency for Education and Statistics Sweden collect relevant data on climate change education, school evaluations do not use climate change-related indicators. Besides a qualification needed for grades 6 and 9, where climate change is one of the critical components, this review found it difficult to find information on quality climate change education in Sweden. Statistics Sweden did not report on indicators for SDG 13.3 or SDG 4.7, and the agency reports they are currently under development, at the time of data collection.
According to the 7th National Communication, Sweden also measures how and to what extent climate change is represented in the media. According to different reports summarized in the National Communication, Sweden uses primarily a top-down approach, where solutions come from the European Union, the United Nations, or other high-level organizations and are taken up at the national and sub-national levels.
II) MECCE Project Monitoring
The Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) Project examined Sweden’s 2015 Swedish Education Act (ESP) and the 2011 Curriculum for Compulsory School, Preschool Class, and School-age Educare (last revised in 2022) for references to ‘climate change’, ‘sustainability’, ‘biodiversity’, and the ‘environment.
The Curriculum for Compulsory School, Preschool Class, and School-age Educare mentions ‘climate change’ 3 times, ‘environment’ 199 times, ‘sustainability’ once, and it makes 2 references to ‘biodiversity.’
The 2010 Swedish Education Act does not mention ‘climate change,’ ‘sustainability,’ or ‘biodiversity’. The Act mentions ‘environment’ twice.
This section will be updated as the MECCE project develops.
This profile was reviewed by:
Victoria Wibeck, Professor, Department of Thematic Studies – Environmental Change, Centre for Climate Science and Policy Research, Linköping University, Sweden
Rebecka Engström, Chair, Stormvarning Sverige, PhD candidate, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Eva Lundgren, Project Manager, Swedish UNESCO Council
