This protocol was developed and subsequently tested in 2012-2015 by Nordic test and research institutes, with Danish Technological Institute (DTI) as project manager. This protocol describes a potential standardized procedure for measurements of BC (Black Carbon) in terms of both EC (Elemental Carbon) and OC (Organic Carbon) from residential wood burning stoves. Such a standardized test can then be used for voluntary eco-labeling of wood stoves, and by manufacturers interested in testing and developing extremely low-emission, low-black carbon, “climate-friendly” stoves. This testing protocol is part of a project supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), and implemented by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI).

This report constitutes the main outputs of the project “Pathways to a Nordic food system that contributes to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants”. The overall goals are to present the baseline data regarding the Nordic agricultural sector, its greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, the regulatory framework and support systems, and conflicts of interest. The report aims to describe pathways to a Nordic food system that contributes to achieving the climate target of below 2 (or 1.5) degrees of warming and the air pollution target of zero exceedance of critical loads and critical levels regarding ammonia emissions.

The Nordic region has diverse geological and climatic conditions that make certain types of agricultural production more vulnerable than others.

The policy recommendations aim to serve as input to different policies at EU, Nordic and national level.

Peatlands in the Nordic Baltic region and elsewhere in the world store large amounts of carbon and are at the same time important for conservation of biodiversity. Thus peatlands are space-effective carbon stocks, but when drained carbon and nitrogen are released as greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and as nitrate to the surface water, while methane will be released when rewetting.

New knowledge reveals that one of the most efficient means to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are the restoration of drained peatlands by reestablish former high water tables on organic soils.

This project on synergies between climate change mitigation and the restoration of peatlands has been conducted under a regional Ramsar initiative covering the Nordic and Baltic countries (NorBalWet), with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The report contains chapters on peatlands and their role in climate change mitigation, individual country chapters and the role of the Ramsar Convention.

The report use ozone measurement data retrieved in the Arctic with balloon borne ozone sondes for the last 20-30 years. Four stations with the best data series have been selected. Using a Monte Carlo method the yearly period is subtracted from the data and the remains, the anomalies, are correlated towards the area of the Polar Front, the temperature rise of the Nortern Hemisphere and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and towards one another. It was found that the NAO correlates negatively with ozone anomalies for all four stations albeit the correlations are weak. Besides, the polar front area correlates weakly positive with the ozone anomalies for three out of the four stations. These results, together with the observation that the ozone-anomalies have a brief decorrelation time, indicate that most of the variability in the anomalies should be found in local conditions.

Ozone soundings from 9 Nordic stations with rather different data coverage have been homogenized followed by an interpolation to standard tropospheric pressure levels. A Bayesian model was applied which included a low-frequency variability, an annual cycle with harmonics, the possibility for variability in seasonal amplitude and phasing, and noise. Regarding the low-frequency variability it was found that only Scoresbysund, Ny Aalesund and Sodankyla showed statistical significant changes with a maximum near 2007 followed by a decrease. We hypothesize that this decrease could be explained by an observed decrease in nitrogen oxide in Europe.

The Nordic countries continue to experience growth of urban areas, which provides benefits like economic growth, but also imposes economic costs in terms of reduced ecosystem services. This report focuses on urban nature recreation and highlights economic methods and data that can help capture the associated nonmarket welfare benefits. The study stresses the need to collect user data to better understand visitation patterns, which can be combined with valuation methods to provide evidence of economic benefits associated with e.g., hiking, cycling, skiing, paddling and other recreation activities. Once these benefits are visible, decision-makers will have a better basis to balance economic growth with the environmental costs it imposes on urban ecosystem services.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is considered to be a significant health risk for humans. Yet, concentration levels in much of Europe still remain high. One of the major emission sources of primary PM2.5 (airborne particle matter with a diameter < 2.5  m) in Nordic countries is wood burning due to domestic heating. Unfortunately, emission inventories for wood burning are difficult to determine and there is a large uncertainty in the impact of these emissions on air quality. In SRIMPART we have applied independent methods to assess the contribution of wood burning to the total PM2.5 concentrations in three Nordic cities (Oslo, Lycksele and Helsinki).  These methods include receptor modelling, based on chemical analysis of filter samples, and inverse modelling using dispersion models. The results show that estimates of emissions based on wood consumption or based on the methods applied in SRIMPART have a similar level of uncertainty and so it is not possible to categorically state which is the most correct. However, both methods do agree within their respective uncertainties and this provides support that the long term average emissions from wood burning are correct to within a factor of two.

Seventeen pollutants (particles, heavy metals, inorganic gasses and organic compounds) are for the first time analyzed in a screening of the carcinogenic risk at very high resolution and large scale in ambient air in the Nordic countries. Modelled 2010 annual mean air concentrations show no exceedances of the EU air quality values. The only exceedance of US-EPA 1:100,000 cancer risk concentrations occurs for the PAH BaP in Denmark. However, the EU target value threshold for BaP is not exceeded. No emission data for BaP are available for the other countries and important uncertainties are still related to the Danish emissions. Long-range transport is significant except for BaP that originates mostly from residential wood combustion. It is recommended to monitor the influence from residential wood combustion more extensively, and to analyze longer time trends for long-term human exposure.

This project (KoL 12-08) was performed for the Climate and Air Quality Group (KlimaogLuftgruppen, KoL), Nordic Council of Ministers by atmospheric emission, exposureand epidemiology experts from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Emission inventory methods and exposure models were presented. A list of carcinogenic andco-carcinogenic pollutants (particles, heavy metals and organic compounds) emittedfrom energy production, industrial activities, road transport, navigation, agriculture, residential heating and product use was compiled. Pollutant emissions levels for 2010and trends for 1990 to 2010 were compiled and discussed, and modelled andmeasured atmospheric concentrations for 2010 were compiled on regional, urbanand local scales. Nordic maps of emissions and air concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NOx,NMVOC, benzene, BaP, dioxin, cadmium and nickel were compiled for allaggregated main sources, traffic and residential wood combustion. An overview of local studies on exposure for cities or communities with emphasis on wood combustion and traffic and a discussion of existing epidemiological studies on cancer and environment were given.

PCBs and dioxins are among the most toxic organic chemicals and where the latter is an unwanted bi-product primarily from residential wood burning, fires, municipal waste incineration and steel reclamation, PCBs have been widely used in a number of industrial and commercial products and activities. PAHs have carcinogeni/mutagenic properties and are produced when materials containing carbon and hydrogen are burned. The heavy metal mercury is also one of the most toxic chemicals that is being used today and although there are legally binding instruments in force within the EU and globally, which aim to limit the use and spreading of mercury in the environment it is still found in various consumer and commercial products. The use of these chemicals gives rise to emissions to air. This joint Nordic project contributes to improving the emission inventories for mercury, PAHs, dioxins and PCBs related to the sector Solvents and Other Product Use", which will help the Nordic countries to assess whether they reach the overall environmental objective of clean and healthy surroundings and several targets in the Nordic Environmental Action Programme 2009-2012 and the international air quality conventions such as Convention on Long-Range, Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The report is mainly aimed at experts performing the national emission inventories but also policy-makers and the general public may find information on sources to emissions, working procedure of emission inventories and on measures implemented on an international and national level for reducing emissions."

This project considers the NMVOC emission inventories for solvent use that are used by the five Nordic countries for reporting to e.g. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the European Commission and UNECE-Convention on Long-Range, Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The project covers the entire solvent use sector, however, special attention has been given to domestic use. All the major codes associated with emission reporting and registration of chemical substances have been collected and compared. Emission factors have been presented for source categories and specific chemical substances, when possible. For the entire solvent sector 94 different combinations of SNAP/CORINAIR, CRF, NFR, RAINS/GAINS and NACE codes have been identified. UCN and emission factors are assigned for each combination on a country specific level. The purpose of this project has been to present existing data in the most transparent way in order to share, compare and improve data and methodologies. The results can be used for different purposes, e.g., facilitate assignment of specific emission factors to sources and substances, extrapolate activity data and/or emission factors between code systems, filling data gaps and identify key source categories.

Air pollution has been estimated to lead to ca. 10.000 premature deaths every year in the Nordic countries. The external costs related to the health effects of air pollution amounts to EUR 8-13 billion per year. Main drivers, such as changes in climate, anthropogenic emissions, building structure and demography have a vast impact on air quality-related effects on human health. The purpose of the FutureAirNordic project has been to investigate how potential future changes in main drivers will impact the assessment of air quality-related human health effects. Estimations of premature mortality due to exposure to air pollution as well as the external costs associated with the negative health effects have been analyzed. The results can contribute to improved assessments under future conditions and can be used to evaluate how policies and regulations impact the health effects of air pollution.

24-26 June 2013, 130 leading international policy makers, scientists, experts and others met at an international workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden, in order to discuss and outline future directions in air pollution science and policy. The workshop, which was organised in close collaboration with the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and the European Commission, involved several themes such as linkages to climate change including SLCP, nitrogen, global governance and effects to health and environment. The output is a series of recommendations for further actions with respect to effects to health, ecosystems and near-term climate actions. Recommendations were also given with respect to heavy metals and POPs. The recommendations are directed towards several international organisations and initiatives such as CLRTAP, European Commission, Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the Arctic Council.

Soil carbon sequestration and preservation of present stocks reduces net global greenhouse gas emission and can contribute significantly to both Nordic and international goals of limiting serious climate change. In order to achieve this, sustainable use of soil resources, better soil and water management practices, and restoration of degraded soils is needed. Protection and restoration of soil organic carbon are also key solutions to many of the most pressing global challenges facing mankind today. Highlighting the importance of the soil and the multiple benefits of soil organic carbon sequestration has never been more needed than now.

The three-day workshop organized by the three Nordic research projects, ECOCLIM, LAGGE and SnowCarbo brought together scientists and other actors from Nordic countries to communicate and discuss research on carbon budget estimations in the Nordic region. Through presentations of most recent research in the field and following scientific discussions, the workshop contributed to strengthen the scientific basis of the identification and quantification of major natural carbon sinks in the Nordic region on which integrated climate change abatement and management strategies and policy decisions is formed from. This report summarizes presentations and discussions from the four thematic sessions, Observations of carbon sinks and sources, Modeling the carbon budget, Remote sensing data for carbon modeling, and Impacts of future climate and land use scenarios and gives an overview of the current status and knowledge on research on assessments of national carbon budgets as well as on projections and sensitivity to future changes in e.g. management and climate change in the Nordic Region.

A description of good examples of technical measures to reduce anthropogenic emissions of methane and their economic aspects. Relevant methane emitting sectors identified are ruminant livestock, manure management, landfill, waste water treatment, waste management and oil and gas systems. The consultancy firm Ramböll is responsible for the production of the catalogue, initiated by the Nordic Climate and Air Pollution Group (KOL) under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

A carbon sink is created when the carbon uptake of plants, especially trees and forests is greater than the emissions of carbon from plants, soil, land use and land use change. Sinks help in mitigate climate change. Municipalities that strive to reach carbon neutrality need to strengthen carbon sinks, but this requires active engagement. Key challenges are related to land use and land use change. A first step is to make an inventory of the sinks that can be used in informing landowners and guiding municipal activities. The spatial resolution of national inventories of sinks should be developed to provide municipalities with useful information as detailed measurements cannot be carried out everywhere. Better information on sinks and factors affecting them would encourage joint work across municipalities and cooperation between municipalities, landowners, and other stakeholders.

Peatlands, climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation

 Did you know that

• peatlands hold more carbon than all forests of the world combined?
• drained peatlands are responsible for 25% of total CO2 emissions in the Nordic and Baltic countries?
• rewetting of peatlands substantially reduces these emissions?

 This policy brief pleads for increased commitments to conserving and rewetting peatlands; for abolishing regulations that drive peatland drainage; for changing drained peatland use to paludicultures; and for setting up good practice demonstration projects. It stresses the need for better communicating the benefits of wet peatlands and the costs arising from damaged ones. Finally it highlights the role of peatland rewetting and restoration in reaching national and international policy targets for climate change mitigation, water quality improvement and biodiversity conservation.

The overall goal of the project is to stimulate decision-makers in Belarus to prioritize abatement measures aimed at black carbon in their efforts to reduce emissions of PM2.5, as encouraged in the Gothenburg protocol under the UNECE CLRTAP. To reach this purpose and in order to build up scientific basis necessary for further policy development, a comprehensive analysis of PM2.5 and BC emissions, emission reduction potentials and cost-effective abatement measures in Belarus has been conducted. The report presents two main parts of the conducted analysis: a part focused on the emission inventories, and a part summarizing the results of the integrated assessment modelling. The main focus is on analysis for Belarus; however, a range of modelling results have been obtained for the three participating Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Farming is the foundation of our food system. While the prerequisite for farming is a clean environment and a diverse nature, agriculture is currently the cause of major environmental problems, including greenhouse gas and nitrogen emissions. The challenge to protect our environment and feed the world sometimes seem insurmountable, but solutions might be just around the corner. This report describes two food system scenarios for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, where the majority of food is produced within the region using organic farming practices and where livestock is mainly fed on grass and by-products not suitable for human consumption. The results show that we could feed the projected Nordic population in 2030 on organic food, mostly grown within the region, while reducing the climate and nitrogen footprints of our food system.

Polluted air with impacts on human health and ecosystems is transported with the winds over very long distances. Large-scale biomass burning is an important source for polluted air over the northern hemisphere. In 2006, biomass burning occurred on approximately 2 Mha forest and agricultural land in Russia and neighbouring countries. This highly polluted air was transported across northern Europe all the way to Iceland and Svalbard. High air concentrations of black carbon, ozone and high deposition of nitrogen were measured in Scandinavian forests. High concentrations of particulate matter caused health problems. Large-scale wildfires in Russia have continued until today. The Nordic countries and the EU ought to support neighbouring countries in order to restrict wildfires. Important activities are preventing the burning of agricultural waste and fire-prevention activities in forests.

Residential biomass combustion is a major source of PM2.5 and SLCP (Short Lived Climate Pollutants) emissions in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. SLCPs and PM2.5 have impact on climate, environment and health. When developing strategies for reduced emissions, reliable information on current emissions and assessments for how they can be reduced is essential. This report presents recommendations for how to further improve national activity data collection procedures for less uncertain emission inventory results. It also presents scenario results with estimated technical potentials for reduced emissions of SLCPs and PM2.5 from residential biomass combustion, transformed into potential impact on health and climate effects in 2035.

This technical analysis for the Nordic Green to Scale report was commissioned to CICERO (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo), which is Norway’s foremost institute for interdisciplinary climate research. The report illustrates the scaling potential of 15 proven Nordic low-carbon solutions and presents an analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions of these solutions and their scalability internationally.

Nordic countries suffer from periodic worsening of the air quality during spring with high peak PM10 concentrations (airborne particulate matter with diameter less than 10 µm or 0.01 mm). Characteristic for the high springtime PM10 concentrations are high shares of coarse particles (with diameters between 2.5 and 10µm), a signature of non-exhaust traffic dust formed via abrasion and wear of pavement, traction control materials, vehicle brakes and tyres. This Policy Brief summarizes the current understanding of the road dust system and presents the mitigation measures and policies currently in place in the Nordic countries. It has been compiled as part of the NORTRIP project funded by the Climate and air pollution working group of the Nordic Council of Ministers by researchers from 11 Nordic institutes studying different aspects of traffic non-exhaust emissions and road dust.

The transport sector is a major source of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. This study estimates the potential of digitalized mobility solutions, such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS), to reduce emissions and vehicle kilometers travelled in the Nordic countries. Also, to assess the potential future impact of MaaS, modelling is done to project road transport’s energy consumption, CO2 emissions and total costs in the Nordic countries up to 2050. There are still several barriers to the wider adoption of shared mobility services. We present ways to overcome these barriers with incentives and policy instruments to substitute car ownership, and specify what different actors can do to accelerate this change. Finally we present policy recommendations on how to reduce the dependence on car ownership, reduce the vehicle kilometers driven, and stimulate the demand for greener mobility services.

Analys av påverkan av ett förändrat klimat och ändrade utsläpp av luftföroreningar på halter av marknära ozon och kvävenedfall. Resultaten visar att påverkan av klimatförändringar fram till 2050 är små jämfört med de förbättringar som förväntas av minskade utsläpp av ozonbildande ämnen och kväveföreningar. An analysis of the impact of climate change on future surface ozone concentrations and nitrogen deposition in Europe. The results show that the climate penalty until 2050 for surface ozone and nitrogen deposition is small compared to the expected benefits obtained from emission reductions.

Prissætning af CO2 anses generelt for at være et særdeles effektivt værktøj med henblik på at reducere CO2-udslippet. At prissætte CO2 skaber incitament for brugere og producenter af fossile brændsler til at reducere forbruget og udvikle produkter og processer med et lavt CO2-udslip. Høje klimapolitiske ambitioner kan dog medføre CO2-lækage, hvilket betyder at en unilateral eller regional klimapolitik tilskynder virksomheder til at flytte deres investeringer og produktionsanlæg, og dermed CO2-udslippet, til tredjelande. Rapporten er udarbejdet af Copenhagen Economics på opdrag af Nordisk Ministerråd med henblik på at give et overblik over de industrier som risikerer CO2-lækage i de nordiske lande, og at vurdere det forventede omfang af CO2-lækagen som følge af den unilaterale klimapolitik i de nordiske lande. I rapporten gives også en vurdering af de eksisterende politiske muligheder som kan reducere risikoen for CO2-lækage, såsom fritagelse for energiskat og fritagelse for kvoteforpligtelser i forbindelse med grønne certifikater. I rapporten identificeres de primære årsager til CO2-lækage, herunder energiintensitet, produktdifferentiering, transportudgifter og kapitalintensitet. Analysen viser at virksomheder som eksempelvis producerer papir og cellulosemasse, jern og stål, aluminium, cement, lægemidler, kemikalier og gødning, har den største risiko for CO2-lækage inden for den nordiske produktionssektor.

Emissions and resources are typically allocated to national territories. There has been increased interest in allocating environmental flows to the final consumption of goods and services. The resulting "environment footprints" are particularly relevant for global environmental problems in a globalised world. Developed countries generally have larger environmental footprints than their national territorial flows, and the gap has tended to increase over the last two decades. Consequently, some have argued that environmental policies should address the environmental footprint. Despite the potential policy relevance, there has been relatively little research on policy applications. While environmental footprints have many advantages, policy applications are limited by estimation and interpretation uncertainty, and by the lack of a clear policy motivation.

This policy brief constitutes one of the main outputs from the project “Pathways to a Nordic food system that contributes to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants”. In cooperation with NOAH (Denmark), Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto (Finland) and Norsk Bonde- og Småbrukarlag (Norway), AirClim (Sweden) has analysed agricultural emissions, regulatory frameworks, food production systems, consumption trends, policies for the agricultural sector and the overall environmental impact in terms of air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. The analysis also covers conflicts of interest that are counterproductive to an agricultural food production system with lower emissions of greenhouse gases and ammonia. The project is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Climate and Air Pollution Group.

The uptake rates of atmospheric CO2 in the Nordic Seas, and particularly the shelf waters around Greenland, are among the highest in the world’s oceans. The driving factors behind the air-sea exchange of CO2 in open waters are the difference between the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in the atmosphere and the surface waters, leading to an uptake in areas where the pCO2 of surface waters is lower. Because the coastal area of Greenland is very sensitive to climate change, and because it takes up more CO2 relative to other marine areas, a realistic estimate of the exchange rates is crucial in order to obtain reliable assessments of the CO2 uptake by the Greenlandic coastal area. The results from present study reveal the importance of a diminishing sea ice cover; and it is clear that the wind climate is essential to the surface uptake of CO2.

Green to Scale is a series of analysis projects that have highlighted the potential of scaling up existing climate solutions. Nordic Green to Scale for countries zooms in on two regions: the Baltic States, Poland and Ukraine in Europe; and Kenya and Ethiopia in East Africa. This report presents the emission reduction potential of 10 selected solutions for the European target countries. The study highlights the costs, savings and co-benefits of implementing the solutions as well as makes policy recommendations for capturing the potential. The project was carried out by the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, together with its partners CICERO, CONCITO and Institute of Sustainability Studies at the University of Iceland. The technical analysis was produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre. The project is part of the Nordic Council of Ministers' Prime Ministers’ Initiative.

Nordic Ministers of Environment adopted in March 2012 the “Svalbard Declaration” with decisions to reduce the negative impacts of the climate changes and air pollution caused by the emission of the so-called Short-lived Climate Forcers (SLCFs) such as black carbon (soot) and methane. Along with CO2, they are the main reasons why the ice in the Arctic now is melting rapidly.   At a workshop organised by the Nordic Group on Climate and Air Quality in June 2012 researchers and policy-makers discussed the recent scientific findings, the national experiences with emission inventories, identification of cost-effective measures to cut emissions and the drawing up of national action plans as well as the development in the field of international co-operation on SLCFs.The report presents policy recommendations, conclusions and recommendations on scientific research and monitoring.

Measurements in Southern Fennoscandia show a weak declining trend in mercury deposition which can be attributed to reduction controls in EU countries. Deposition of mercury in Arctic areas is likely to be governed by the amount of mercury in background air and therefore largely dependent on mercury emissions from mercury sources in the entire northern hemisphere. Hence, further reduction in anthropogenic emissions of mercury will require control measures in the entire northern hemisphere. The so called atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) are occurring during polar spring. How much of the deposited mercury that remains contra is re-emitted to the atmosphere is, however, crucial for assessing the importance of AMDE in the Arctic environment. Forest soils are an important sink for mercury deposited from the atmosphere. However, this sink can be affected by perturbations in conjunction to common forestry practices and lead to mobilization of the stored mercury and enhanced methyl mercury formation. Similar effects can be expected in areas where climate change results in large increases in precipitation amounts. The processes governing these changes in mercury mobilization are to some extent unknown and general predictions of the magnitude of the changes are thus associated with a large degree of uncertainty

This issue brief presents results from the project Capacity building regarding data inventory and air pollution modelling with the EMEP and GAINS models – applied on Oblasts of the Russian Federation, financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers (project KOL 10-11) and the Swedish Clean Air Research Programme (SCARP). The purpose with the brief is to highlight air pollution problems and policy options in the Russian Federation and to provide information on the benefits of Nordic-Russian co-operation over the last couple of years, as well as to provide suggestions for ways forward.

The Climate and Air Group under Nordic Council of Ministers supports the work within the Convention on Long-Range Transport of Air Pollution (CLRTAP). It has promoted science and policy tools including atmospheric transport and deposition models, and concepts such as Critical Loads, Gap Closure and the Multi-pollutant and -effect approach. This has also been important for policies in the European Union. There is a growing need to further support CLRTAP and the EU in particular in view of the interdependencies between air pollution and climate change. The workshop on future strategies held in Oslo 9-10 October 2008, concluded that there is growing evidence that air pollution in many regions significantly influences climate change and that climate change will influence the occurrence and effects of atmospheric pollutants. This report compiles the main findings and recommendations.

This report contains the discussions and recommendations from a workshop held in Copenhagen 28-29 August 2008, where climate scientists and air pollution scientist from the Nordic countries were gathered to discuss the interaction between climate change, air pollution and related impacts.

Klimatilpasning i Norden gør status for arbejdet med klimatilpasning i de nordiske lande og giver en oversigt over den nordiske forskning inden for området. Den gennemgår de vigtigste begreber og diskuterer hvordan klimatilpasning opfattes. En række barrierer der hindrer en tilpasning identificeres med anbefalinger af, hvordan de kan reduceres gennem udvikling af fælles nordiske værktøjer og fortsat videnopbygning. Målgruppen er nordiske aktører indenfor klimatilpasning, herunder nationale beslutningstagere i udvikling af beslutningsværktøjer og forskningsudbud.

The Nordic countries are often seen as green both in terms of a good environment and being capable of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This report is concerned with the development in GHG emissions over time and with the policies that have been effective in the reduction path. The purpose of the description is both to highlight effective climate policies and to tell the comprehensive story of climate policy in the Nordic countries. The project is developed in partnership with the Open Climate Network, an international network lead by the World Resources Institute.

The Nordic Green to Scale project builds on and extends the work carried out in 2015 in the global Green to Scale project, which sought to answer a simple question: how far could we go simply by scaling up already proven low-carbon solutions. Continuing with the same methodological approach, the Nordic Green to Scale study presents 15 successful Nordic climate solutions that have proven their potential in achieving emissions savings and can be scaled up internationally. The project was carried out by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund (Finland), together with its partners Concito (Denmark), Institute of Sustainability Studies at the University of Iceland (Iceland) and Stockholm Environment Institute SEI (Sweden). The technical analysis was produced by CICERO (Norway), and the project has enjoyed funding support from the Climate and Air Pollution Group of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The results from this study show that the technical measures to avoid Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants in a Nordic energy system in many cases can result in cost savings for society due to reduced expenses on energy. Environmental benefits achieved due to energy demand savings and structural changes in the energy system would make it easier for the Nordic countries to reach the air pollution targets as well as post-Kyoto targets for GHG. Some of the measures would also make it easier to reach European Air Quality targets. All strategies do not imply co-benefits between air pollution emission reduction and GHG emission reduction. For example, GHG emission reduction through increased use of bio fuels risk imposing a trade-off between air pollution and GHG emission abatement since increased use of bio fuels could risk increasing the emissions of air pollutants. These co-benefits and the risk for conflicts between air quality and climate change should be more emphasised in the development of future Nordic low CO2 energy and emission strategies. The project group also suggests that these Nordic strategies should be developed as joint efforts between the Nordic countries.

Air pollution is a global threat that requires international collaboration and coordinated actions for its solution. Several international organisations have highlighted the problem and are taking action. In order to meet future challenges and develop collaboration, an international workshop was held in Göteborg 19-21 March 2018. It was the 6th in the series of the so called “Saltsjöbaden workshops” and was attended by approx. 180 participants and 20 international organisations. It was organised by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers and in close collaboration with and support from the UNECE Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. The workshop ended in a set of recommendations directed to actors and processes in order to facilitate and intensify future work.