Sweden and the other Nordic countries are still very active within climate research. Sweden is number four in the world as regards the number of scientific publications per inhabitant (Norway is number 1, Denmark number 5 and Finland number 6) (27), and more and more interdisciplinary links to the climate issue are being examined. In a report recently published by the Environmental Protection Agency, sociologists analyse the climate issue in the light of the latest “happiness research” (28). The report launches a type of third way to approach the climate issue, somewhere between the technology optimist’s confidence, which can sometimes be far too superficial, and those who think that humans must make sacrifices in the form of lifestyle changes. Could people’s wellbeing be a driving force rather than an obstacle for sustainable development? Instead of focusing on the things we need to refrain from, the discussion should be about the way in which a climate-smart life can increase our happiness and wellbeing. Meteorologist Bert Bolin’s commitment to creating a forum within the UN to tackle the climate challenge was based on the insight into the global nature of the climate issue and close connection to justice issues. The small nation’s route to influence is not through traditional officialise but through the power of good example and promoters of international agreements. In this way, the handling of climate issues in Sweden fits into a Nordic tradition that is characterised by a high level of confidence in the UN as an arena for international cooperation. The UN’s first environmental conference was held in Stockholm in 1972 and Sweden has since then been actively working with international conferences and conventions concerning the environment. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 25. Use and abuse of nature’s resources. A Swedish Environmental History, the Environmental Protection Agency.,2009. 26. Knaggård, Å. 2009. Scientific uncertainty in the political process. A study of Swedish climate policy. The University of Lund. 27. Nordforsk 2009, bibliometric study. 28. SNV report 6458, The Transformation of the Climate and the Good Life, 2011.
The energy policy until 1990 – “development track”, oil replacement, energy management For most of the 1900s, Sweden’s policy was mainly to increase access to electricity (31). Expansion of hydroelectric power and nuclear power would mean that the growing industry would be assured cheap electricity. The focus was on increasing the energy supply to facilitate continued growth and greater welfare in society. A key factor in this process was the “development tracks” that arose between state works and large private enterprises. These long-term, close cooperations between technical engineers within the state and trade and industry were, according to some people, “a specific Swedish virtuoso art” that is often forgotten in the description of “the Swedish model”. Better-known building blocks are the “Saltsjöbad Agreement” (institutionalised consensus between the labour market’s parties) and the “Harpsund Democracy” (consensus-orientated political decision-making). The state-industry development tracks do actually constitute just another example of the consensus that was aspired to with the nation’s best interests at heart, which characterised the community spirit for most of the 1990s (32). The former
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