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Three ways a Nordic region Agenda 2030 initiative will add value

A summary of SEI and Gaia Consulting’s recommendations on a Nordic Agenda 2030 programme.

Åsa Persson, Clarisse Kehler Siebert, Caspar Trimmer / Published on 19 May 2017
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Caspar Trimmer

The flags of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, The Aland Islands, Finland, Greenland, Sweden and The Faroe Islands
The flags of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, The Aland Islands, Finland, Greenland, Sweden and The Faroe Islands. Photo: Johannes Jansson / norden.org.

Nordic countries are in many ways frontrunners when it comes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They are hubs of science, technology and innovation, and they are already exploring shifts towards more circular economies. Many of the goals and targets are as good as achieved in the Nordic countries, and there are active national policies to address most of those that aren’t.

However, some import-hungry Nordics are uncomfortably near the top of the list when it comes to per capita environmental footprints. Bringing Nordic lifestyles and consumption patterns in line with global ambitions will be a major challenge.

Over the last year, Gaia Consulting and Stockholm Environment Institute worked with the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) on exploring the feasibility of, and possible roles for, a regional Agenda 2030 programme within the Nordic Cooperation framework.

We explored what individual Nordic countries had been doing to implement and communicate Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we talked to stakeholders from government, business, civil society, science and the media about whether (and how) Nordic cooperation could add value to these efforts. The answer was a resounding “Yes!”…

Source: Deliver2030

Written by

Åsa Persson
Åsa Persson

Research Director and Deputy Director

SEI Headquarters

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