Ingredients required for sustainable consumption

When the research programme Mistra Sustainable Consumption started in 2018, the debate about sustainable consumption looked a bit different in Sweden. Back then, the focus was often on using information, labelling and nudging to get consumers to choose more sustainable goods and services. Jörgen Larsson, researcher at Chalmers and one of the programme directors, wanted to broaden the perspective – to understand consumption patterns as an interplay between infrastructure, habits, values and knowledge.

"We also wanted to explore “sufficiency” as a strategy for sustainable consumption, that is limiting consumption that is especially resource- and emissions-intensive. And not least we wanted to help develop concrete measures for more sustainable consumption that companies, municipalities, individuals and politicians can act on", says Jörgen.

The report Consumption’s boundaries, Results from the research programme Mistra Sustainable Consumption 2018–2025 was presented during the programme’s final conference in November 2025. The research is summarised in some concrete points:

• Sustainable consumption requires both technical development and changed consumption.

• Despite decades of efficiency improvements and environmental innovations, Swedes’ consumption-based emissions remain far above a sustainable level. Politics needs to broaden the toolbox from green technology to also include sufficiency – to set limits for unsustainable consumption in areas such as food, housing, travel and stuff.

• Individual and voluntary measures will not be sufficient.

• People need support from society – for example in the form of infrastructure, pricing and cultural norms.

• Policy instruments and active politics are needed for sustainable consumption.

Today there are already regulations and taxes for e.g. alcohol, tobacco and the use of hazardous chemicals. Society needs to broaden the use of policy instruments to new areas.

"Interest in climate issues fluctuates, and right now the political interest is quite low. But we know that pendulums tend to swing, and we can also note that attention to other sustainability issues than climate has increased", says Jörgen Larsson.

Measures that could be implemented today:

• Tax shift on food: Lower VAT on fruit and vegetables, higher tax on meat and sugary drinks — benefits both public health and climate without hitting low-income groups hardest.

• Prevention of product destruction: New regulations and incentives can stop the waste of unsold goods.

• School meals: Climate impact can be reduced by 20–40 % without pupils becoming less satisfied.

• Travel: Fewer long-haul flights and more night trains can drastically reduce emissions – up to 30 % of flights to Europe could be replaced.

• Values and democracy matter: Citizens’ assemblies, local initiatives and values such as cooperation, care and goodwill can drive change toward a sustainable society.

• Lifestyle changes can have greater effect than expected: Those who give up cars, flights or meat often have lower emissions also in other areas – climate-conscious norms can reinforce positive behaviours.

Read more about the measures on the Mistra Consumption website. 

Green chatbot to help spread the research results

To disseminate the findings and help those who want to increase their knowledge on the issue, Mistra Sustainable Consumption has also created a chatbot about sustainable consumption – Greenchat.

It draws its answers from hundreds of scientific articles and reports written by the researchers within the programme and is a way to easily access research findings and discuss topics such as consumer goods consumption, living space, meat, flights, night trains, sufficiency, repair, taxes, policy acceptability – or questions about power and values.

"Unlike other chatbots, you can be confident that here you get answers based on research and relevant in a Swedish context. You can also easily see all sources for the answers you receive so you can deepen your knowledge yourself", says Jörgen Larsson, who developed the chatbot together with Erik Sterner at Gothenburg University.

The researchers recommend the chatbot to companies, authorities and media working with sustainable consumption – but also to private individuals who want to increase their understanding of different sustainability issues discussed in the public debate.

They hope the tool will contribute to a more knowledge-based discussion in media and around kitchen tables – and in the long run lead to societal changes that promote more sustainable consumption patterns.