Is industry doing enough for the climate – or are many efforts still largely plans on paper? A new study from Chalmers University of Technology examines how Sweden’s 20 largest industrial emitters are working toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2045.
The 20 largest industrial emitters account for nearly one third of Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions. A new study from Chalmers University of Technology shows that companies’ climate ambitions do not always correspond to how actively they engage in transition projects. Illustration: AI-generated image / Chalmers.
In the study Beyond leaders and laggards: How incumbents navigate transformative policy missions, published in the journal Energy Policy, the researchers examine how the largest emitters participate in government support programmes for the climate transition. The analysis draws on emissions statistics, project data from the Swedish Energy Agency’s Industrial Leap (Industriklivet) and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leap (Klimatklivet), as well as network analyses of collaborations between companies and other actors.
The results show that there is no clear link between high climate ambitions and concrete action.
“Large industrial companies are not only part of the climate problem – they are also an essential part of the solution,” says Hans Hellsmark, senior researcher in Environmental Systems Analysis at the Department of Technology Management and Economics at Chalmers University of Technology, and one of the researchers behind the study.
Some companies with ambitious climate targets participate in relatively few transition projects, while others – with less prominent targets – are highly active in initiatives such as hydrogen, electrification and carbon capture.
The study also shows that companies take on different roles in the transition: some drive technological breakthroughs, others build critical infrastructure, some test solutions step by step – and some remain fairly passive.
In Sweden, the 20 largest industrial emitters account for almost one third of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, they are deeply embedded in the existing industrial system, with large facilities, long investment cycles and close links to suppliers, customers, regulations and politics.
“This means that their strategic choices – for example which technologies they invest in and which collaborations they enter into – are crucial for whether we actually succeed in reaching the climate targets,” says Hans Hellsmark.
The study analyses how industrial emitters engage with the two largest government support programmes for industrial climate transition: the Swedish Energy Agency’s Industriklivet and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s Klimatklivet.
▶ Read more on the Swedish website
FACTS:
The study ▶ “Beyond leaders and laggards: How incumbents navigate transformative policy missions” is publiched in the journal Energy Policy.
Writers:
Hans Hellsmark Chalmers University of Technology
Johnn Andersson RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
Barbara Hedeler Chalmers University of Technology / AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Hans Hellsmark
- Senior Researcher, Innovation and R&D Management, Technology Management and Economics
Hans Hellsmark
- Senior Researcher, Innovation and R&D Management, Technology Management and Economics
