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To deliver the promises under the Generational Goal and Agenda 2030, in 2015 the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency commissioned a team of leading environmental researchers, including SEI, to create a model that could capture both the territorial and global impacts of Swedish consumption. Now the PRINCE team has scoped out the data and methods required to develop a set of environmental impact indicators that extends beyond greenhouse gases.
Photo: Michael Burrows / Pexels.
Developments in the policy landscape and data capabilities in the last 10 years have greatly increased the significance of consumption-based indicators for policymakers looking to understand the contribution of national economies to global environmental impacts and development targets.
Using the latest modelling and statistical techniques, the PRINCE (Policy Relevant Indicators for Consumption and Environment) model was created to explore the global environmental impacts and pressures caused by Swedish consumption. The aim of this model is to provide policy makers with sound data to enable decision-making for sustainable production and consumption. The model has been adopted within Sweden’s national statistics framework.
In this second phase of the PRINCE project (2022), the research team has scoped out the data and methods required to develop a set of environmental impact indicators that extends beyond greenhouse gases. Data on chemical use and deforestation offer particular near-term promise for use as statistics. SEI’s PRINCE team members have developed preliminary indicators for biodiversity and fisheries, which now require further development through additional data collection and harmonization. The new PRINCE report sets out how this can be achieved and outlines the steps needed to further develop these data for uptake in national statistics.
Project partners: The PRINCE research team includes SEI, Statistics Sweden, Chalmers University of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The final report of phase 2 of PRINCE covers new methods and environmental indicators supporting policies for sustainable consumption in Sweden.
Other publication / Get findings from PRINCE – a major project to develop indicators for measuring the impact of Swedish consumption on the environment.
Project / PRINCE is a cross-disciplinary project aiming to develop a sound and repeatable methodology to monitor the environmental impacts of Swedish consumption.
Journal article / Consumer countries and blocs are developing laws to tackle deforestation linked to commodity imports but they are insufficient to address this global issue.
Tool / This new public dashboard can be used to visualize and interact with data on the global environmental impacts of consumption.
Feature / The final report of the PRINCE research project outlines new methods for accurate and comprehensive national consumption-based environmental accounts.
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