Launched in March 2017, Klimatkalkylatorn (the Climate Calculator) is a Swedish online footprint calculator tool developed by SEI in collaboration with WWF Sweden. The tool is designed to support the general public’s understanding of the climate impact associated with their personal lifestyle, as a first step to finding engagement for a more “climate-smart” lifestyle. In January 2023, the tool had reached more than 800 000 individual users (i.e. valid responses), a significant share of Sweden’s population of 10.5 million (Statistics Sweden, 2023a).

The dataset collected over the past five years represents a trove of knowledge about Swedish households’ carbon footprints (for a definition of carbon footprints, see e.g. Wiedmann & Minx, 2007). In this working report, the authors share some of the early findings from this rich dataset, which illustrate the variations and similarities in carbon footprints among the Swedish population, tied to goods and services produced abroad and nationally. The results break down household carbon footprints at a more detailed level than national statistics do.

The team’s preliminary findings provide valuable insights for policymakers as they craft focused policy measures aimed at addressing household consumption patterns. Furthermore, these findings enable us to pinpoint opportunities for our continued research concerning the carbon footprints of Swedish households.

Key messages

• The online footprint calculator Klimatkalkylatorn has gathered over 800 000 user responses from across Sweden, which testifies to the broad interest among the public to understand personal carbon footprints.
• The first analysis of the collected dataset shows that the average carbon footprint varies significantly between households and across postcodes and municipalities, depending on factors such as level of urbanization, household size and income level, giving a more detailed understanding of households’ footprint, beyond national statistics.
• We also note many similarities among municipality groups in Sweden, especially the more urban and rural households, connected to car travel, air travel, eating out and clothing.
• Air travel is responsible for the largest differences in household carbon emissions. Sweden should start monitoring the full effect of air travel, as part of official statistics to support the identification of effective policy measures to decrease consumption emissions.
• The differences evident between Swedish households and postcodes can serve as an entry point to understanding how to tailor policies, as well as find other ways to encourage and support sustainable levels of consumption in a fair way across the many types of household groups.