Emissions from the Swedish economy have decreased by 1.5 million tonnes between the years 2021 and 2022. This is despite the fact that 2021 was a year in which some of the effects of the pandemic on the economy remained.
Emissions are thus decreasing despite the economy having grown by 2.6 percent.
Pandemic and air travel
Between 2020 and 2021, emissions increased, which was mostly due to the economy increasing after the special pandemic year of 2020. Therefore, there were fears that emissions would continue upward in 2022, but that was not the case. And compared to before the pandemic, in 2019, emissions in 2022 were 9 percent lower.
The construction sector has declined 13 percent in one year. The energy sector decreased by 5 percent.
At the same time, emissions from the “transport industry” increased by 12 percent. This is mainly due to increased air travel. After all, air travel decreased sharply during the pandemic, in 2021 it was still low, and thus increased to last year, although it is still at levels lower than before the pandemic.
The reduction obligation affects
Emissions from “private consumption” decreased by as much as 7 percent.
– It is mostly due to reduced emissions from the Swedes’ consumption of diesel, and it is due, among other things, to the reduction obligation, says Susanna Roth, group leader at Statistics Sweden’s environmental accounts.
The reduction obligation, the requirement to mix biofuels in petrol and diesel, increased between 2021 and 2022. Now the government has proposed a sharp reduction in the reduction obligation, from January 2024, which according to the Environmental Protection Agency will increase emissions from the transport sector by 4-5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Such large increases in emissions from the transport sector will likely cause total emissions to increase next year, says Susanna Roth.