The Climate Impact of Swedish Consumption

This report analyses what greenhouse gas emissions are caused by Swedish consumption regardless of where in the world or in the production chain the emissions occur. The aim is to create an overview and identify the consumption activities that have the largest greenhouse gas emissions. The study includes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The analysis is principally done using environmental accounts from Sweden and other countries. The report describes emissions in orders of magnitude. It does not analyse policy instruments or the costs of measures that are discussed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The data are consistently from 2003 as this is the most recent year for which data are available. The consumption perspective means that emissions that take place in all stages of production from cradle to grave are allocated to the final consumers of goods and services. Emissions that have been caused by exports are therefore deducted from emissions that take place in Sweden, and emissions that have been generated by imports in other countries are added in order to estimate emissions from Swedish consumption. Greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden, including from international transport, totalled around 76 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (Mtonnes CO2e) in 2003. Production in Sweden meets the needs of both domestic consumption and of goods exported to other countries. From a consumption perspective, emissions of around 24 Mtonnes CO2e caused by the production of exports are therefore allocated to the people in other countries who consume the products. Manufacturing and transportation of imports to Sweden are estimated, partly on the basis of the environmental accounts in other countries, to lead to emissions of the order of 43 Mtonnes CO2e. Swedish consumption in 2003 caused greenhouse gas emissions of the order of 95 Mtonnes CO2e. In comparison with the emissions that take place in Sweden, emissions in the consumption perspective are at least 25% higher. Measured in terms of the population of Sweden, emissions from a consumption perspective are equivalent to just over 10 tonnes CO2e per capita. Just over 80% of emissions are caused by private consumption and just under 20% by public consumption. Private consumption in the report is divided into the activities of eating, with just over 25% of emissions, housing with just over 30%, travel withjust under 30% and the residual item of shopping with just under 15%, with purchasing of clothes and shoes being the largest sub-item. The following five activities together account for around half of greenhouse gas emissions and are therefore significant if Sweden is to reduce emissions: y How much do we drive and in what sort of car, y How do we heat our homes, y How much electricity is used at home, y How much meat do we eat and what type, y How far do we fly and how often. Individual consumers do influence emissions today, and there are great differences between the emissions associated with different activities. A number of examples with data from life-cycle assessments for various alternatives in the activities of eating, housing and travel are presented in the report to show that the variation between different patterns of consumption is very large. Some examples are: y Driving a car with a petrol engine may emit 2-3 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year, while one person’s return holiday flight to Asia produces roughly the same emissions. y Eating a piece of beef a day may signify emissions of more than one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalents per person a year, while a different diet might cause only a tenth the level of emissions. y Heating a poorly insulated detached house with oil results in several tonnes more of carbon dioxide emissions per year than an energy-efficient home with ecolabelled district heating. Global emissions need to decrease in the very near future and be largely eliminated during this century if the world is to reduce the risks of very extensive climate effects. Such a trend would reduce the risks of very extensive climate effects throughout the world. Emissions for an average Swedish consumer need to decrease from the present-day level of the order of 10 tonnes per capita to half that level in 2020 and to a fifth in 2050 if emissions from Swedish people’s own consumption are not to exceed the desirable level of global emissions calculated per person. The report discusses how these emision reductions can be achieved in qualitiative and general terms, and in what areas difficulties must be overcome As emissions from food production are difficult to change, we need to change our eating habits. Housing can be made highly energy-efficient with new technology and emissions will be small if the energy system has low emissions. Daily travel can be accomplished in an energy-efficient manner on public transport or by walking or cycling. It is also possible for cars to become relatively energy-efficient in the foreseeable future, with low emissions per kilometre. On the other hand, the situation is more difficult for longer journeys, and there do not appear to be any technical solutions at present to limit the climate impact of aviation to a sufficient extent for extensive flying to be possible. The report concludes that it is important to analyse the greenhouse gas emissions from total consumption and not just those emissions that take place within the country. The perspective of total consumption provides a more complete picture of how our patterns of consumption affect climate.