Former activities

Climate Committee
The main task of the all-party Climate Committee was to give input to the government bill on climate policy to be presented in 2008. The terms of reference and Chair of the Climate Committee were presented in the spring of 2007. The Climate Committee had access at an early stage of its work to the most recent evaluation report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other international material for the assessment of Swedish action. The recommendations of the Scientific Council, which were presented to the Climate Committee, was another important source of supporting information.

The work of the Climate Committee has been compiled in a report that was presented on 4 March 2008. The report will form a basis for the climate policy bill in 2008.
- Members of the Climate Committee
English summary of the report “The Swedish Climate Policy”

The Scientific Council on Climate Issues has concluded its assignment

The role of the Scientific Council was to provide scientific assessments in support of the work of the Climate Committee. One important task was to provide supporting knowledge and recommendations for targets of Swedish climate policy at national, EU and international level. The Chair of the Scientific Council on Climate Issues was Professor Lisa Sennerby Forsse, Rector of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The members had specific expertise in climate issues (Read more under the heading Members.)

The Scientific Council on Climate Issues presented its report “Scientific Basis for Climate Policy: Report of the Scientific Council on Climate Issues” to the minister of Environment Andreas Carlgren and to the Climate Committee on 3 September 2007. Read the Executive Summary and the full report below.

  Executive Summary of the report from the Scientific Basis for Climate Policy
  Full report “A Scientific Basis for Climate Policy”: Report of the Scientific Council on Climate Issues.
- Members of the Scientific Council.
Report from Ecofys to the Environmental Advisory Council on implications on Sweden of proposals for future international climate policy after 2012. Download the background report fron Ecofys to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on factors underpinning future action in international climate policy after 2012.

The Environmental Advisory Council’s Working Group on Growth and Environment in a Global Perspective
The work of the former Environmental Advisory Council was completed 13 April 2007. The reports can be found under the heading reports. This work focused on questions concerning global economic growth and its importance for the state of the world environment. A special working group was formed containing members of the Environmental Advisory Council and representatives of various ministries. Its work was intended to identify critical environmental challenges in a long-term global perspective and to provide ideas for Swedish initiatives that can lead to improvements in the state of the environment in a context of economic growth.

Read the Reports
Growth and environment in a global perspective
Conclusions
Background report

The Environmental Advisory Council's meetings

Meetings 2005
During spring 2005 there were three meetings covering EU common fishery policies, Cityplanning and sustainable transports and Strategic perspectives for the future on the environment and sustainable development.

During autumn 2005 there will be one meeting in October on risk and security jointly with the Swedish Commission on Defense. In November there will be a meeting summing up the two present themes on fishery and transport.

Meetings 2004
In the year 2004 the council held five meetings. Two were about climate and energy, one was about marine strategies, one about environmental goals, one on sustainable consumption and means in environmental policy and the last one looked at future transport in Europé and Sweden.

Meetings 2003
The meetings held in 2003 discussed the results of the World Summit in Johannesburg, the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives, policies and means for a sustainable development in Europé and also took a historical and analytical look at Swedish environemental policy since 1990.

Meetings before 2003
The Council has held a total of six meetings on different themes since October 2001. Specially invited research scientists, experts and other actors who are knowledgeable about the theme in question have been present at the meetings. In two cases, the Council has also asked research groups to write specific synthesis reports reflecting the current state of knowledge within a particular area. The following themes have been discussed:

Important issues prior to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. On 24 October 2001, the Environmental Advisory Council arranged a meeting to discuss what the pressing issues prior to the Johannesburg summit are. Those invited consisted mainly of scientists but there were also representatives from private organisations and the authorities present.

The role of Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO in promoting sustainable development. Technology transfer in the energy field. The Council's meeting on 10 December 2001 was on the subject of global institutions and technology transfer within the energy field. Do we have the institutions we need to achieve sustainable development? Should environmental issues be more integrated into Bretton Woods institutions (The World Bank and the IMF) and into the WTO or are new/reinforced clear-cut environmental institutions needed? How can development support and international funding further technological development and technology transfer to promote sustainable energy systems? These were some of the main issues discussed at the meeting.

Resilience and vulnerability. The Council discussed the concept of resilience with the research scientists and experts it had invited to its meeting on 20 March 2002. The concept of resilience covers aspects such as the capacity of social, ecological and economic systems to recover after a disruption has occurred.

Prior to this meeting, the Council had asked Professor Carl Folke from Stockholm University to produce a scientific background paper in cooperation with the global research network Resilience Alliance. The paper Resilience and Sustainable Development: Building Adaptive Capacity in a World of Transformations was published in the middle of June 2002 as part of the Environmental Advisory Council's special series of reports. The results in the paper have also been summarised in a special brochure published by the Council in cooperation with Albaeco (an association linked to Stockholm University charged with the task of disseminating information about the interaction between society and ecosystems, www.albaeco.com ).

The resilience paper has also been jointly published by the UN's scientific body ICSU (International Council for Science) and the Environmental Advisory Council in the ICSU's Rainbow Series which focuses in particular on the Johannesburg summit. The report was also presented at the end of May 2002 at a "side event" seminar during the fourth preparatory meeting in the run-up to Johannesburg, held on Bali and at a special seminar during the conference Stockholm thirty years on 17-18 juni 2002. Read the report and the brochure.

Decoupling. Divorcing or "decoupling" economic growth from environmental impact was one of the main themes of the Council's meeting on 27 March 2002. Technological development and technology transfer were also on the agenda for this meeting. The issues discussed included: To what extent have we already achieved "decoupling" and what future trends are there? Within which areas is it strategically important to promote technical advancement, i.e. where might technology transfer make the most difference? Can we pinpoint instruments and mechanisms that promote such technical advancement, which in turn facilitate "decoupling"?

A scientific background paper had been produced as a basis for the meeting: Decoupling - past trends and prospects for the future, which the Council had asked research scientists at the Department of Physical Resource Theory at Chalmers University of Technology to produce in cooperation with their research colleagues. The paper's main authors, Christian Azar, John Holmberg and Sten Karlsson, also have links to the international research network Alliance for Global Sustainability. The paper, along with a short brochure summarising its important conclusions, has been published as part of the Environmental Advisory Council's series of reports. Read the report and the brochure.

Child health and environmental risks. Children are especially sensitive. Are we paying sufficient attention to this fact when setting limit values and designing policies? Do we possess the necessary knowledge to be able to consider child health and environmental risks? These were two important main issues discussed at the Council's meeting on 25 April 2002.

Marine issues. Fisheries, eutrophication, hazardous substances and geographical/abiotic conditions were important factors discussed at the Council's meeting on the state of the Baltic Sea and other marine issues on 27 May 2002.

Other activities

Research and Johannesburg
The Environmental Advisory Council acts as an interface with the research community regarding preparations for the Johannesburg summit. On 19 February 2002, the Environmental Advisory Council arranged a meeting with research councils, other research financiers and some research scientists in cooperation with Formas (Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning). The theme of the meeting was "Research and Johannesburg". Among the issues discussed at the meeting was the contribution Swedish research could make before, during and after Johannesburg. Anita Gradin, chairperson of FAS (Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research), and Bo Kjellén, chairman of Formas, took joint charge of the meeting. Ambassador Lars-Göran Engfeldt provided information on the current state of negotiations prior to Johannesburg.

Another meeting with contacts from invited organisations was held on 15 May 2002. It was decided at the meeting that a conference for the research community would be arranged during the autumn of 2002 in order to follow up the results of the Johannesburg summit.

Activities between 1994 and 2001

Between 1994 and 2001, the Environmental Advisory Council mainly worked on special government assignments. A sustainable mountain region, living archipelagos, forests worthy of protection, the role of IT in environmental work, the integration of environmental concern into government administration, a knowledge centre for ecological sustainability, green indicators and a dialogue with industry on sustainable development were the issues dealt with by the Council during this period. The results of these assignments were reported to the government.

The Environmental Advisory Council also held a number of seminars during this period.