What can you do?

Improve your home preparedness

With more extreme weather events, the risk of for example prolonged power and water supply cuts is also increasing. It is therefore even more important that you are able to cope on your own for a few days and, ideally, up to a week. The most important things to consider are heating, water, food and communication.

Read more about home preparedness.

Make your home climate-resilient

There are several ways to ensure your home is better equipped to cope with extreme weather events. This might involve, for example, checking your property’s drainage and water runoff systems, or fitting awnings to keep out the heat. If you do not own your home, you can encourage your landlord or housing association to carry out these improvements.

Find out more about climate adaption on the Klimatanpassning website, run by SMHI.

Reduce your own climate impact

Individuals’ carbon footprint is measured in tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted per person per year. In Sweden, the average is 7.6 tonnes per person, which is significantly higher than the global average. To meet the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees compared with pre-industrial levels, emissions must be no more than one tonne per person by 2050.

Just under a third of Swedes’ greenhouse gas emissions relate to factors that are difficult for an individual to influence, such as the construction of roads and houses or items purchased collectively by society. However, you can influence the remaining emissions yourself.

By living in a more climate-smart way, you can reduce your emissions by several tonnes per year. The choices you make can also inspire others to make more climate-friendly choices. If many Swedes reduce their emissions, it can have a significant impact on Sweden’s overall climate impact.

Below, we list a few areas where it is easy to reduce your emissions.

Travel

Air travel, particularly long-haul flights, generates significant carbon dioxide emissions. A return trip to Spain is equivalent to around one tonne of carbon dioxide per traveller. By travelling less frequently and choosing destinations that aren’t too far away, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Travelling by train instead of by plane is also a way to reduce your carbon footprint.

By using public transport instead of a fossil-fuel-powered car, you’re also making a contribution. If travelling by car is the only option, try to car-share.

Food

It isn’t always easy to make the right choice if you want to reduce your carbon footprint whilst also considering various sustainability aspects. Plant-based foods generally have a significantly lower impact on the climate than meat, particularly beef. At the same time, grazing animals can have a positive impact on the environment if they’re kept on natural pastureland that boosts biodiversity.

As well as the foods we choose to eat, reducing food waste is a good way to lower your climate and environmental impact.

Housing

You can do a few things to make your home more climate-smart. If you own your own house, you can, where possible, opt for a more energy-efficient heating system, such as geothermal heating instead of direct electric heating. Insulating windows and old attics can reduce both costs and energy consumption. If you live in a flat, you can try to encourage the property owner or the housing association to make climate-smart choices.

If the option is available, choose climate-smart electricity.

Other consumption

It’s good for both the climate and your wallet to repair and buy second-hand items rather than buying new ones. But sometimes it can also be a good idea to replace items that use a lot of electricity, such as an old freezer.

In Sweden, we consume 13.6 kilograms of newly produced textiles per person per year. A large proportion of these textiles are clothes. You can reduce your carbon footprint by choosing clothes that last a long time if you do buy new items. Another tip is to buy second-hand textiles and to ensure that clothes you no longer wear are reused.