Being climate-friendly must be easy

Dietary guidelines must be expanded to include a sustainability perspective, the Nordic Swan Ecolabel must be extended to new product categories, and we must become wiser about how factors such as gender, age, and social class affect our consumption. This is just a selection of the plans compiled under the heading of the “Sustainable Lifestyle” programme. By 2024, a total of six projects will, in various ways, seek to make it simpler and more attractive for Nordic citizens to make green, sustainable choices in all areas of day-to-day life.

Following a recent report written by Rambøll Management and published with funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers, it has become ever clearer that the Nordic region has a large, ever-increasing climate footprint. It is also very evident that changes are required in all areas of life and that there is no quick fix to this deeply embedded societal problem. Therefore, the Nordic Council of Ministers has launched a programme on Friday 12 November 2021 at the Nordic COP26 hub in Helsinki. This will consist of six different projects all targeting a different area of sustainability in people’s lifestyles.   

“Lifestyle changes are about behaviour, culture, and structure, so different solutions are needed. With this programme, we want to help create a breeding ground for lasting changes in our lifestyles, and I believe that this is best done by looking at all facets of our lives,” says programme manager Inger Smærup.

The projects

-          Durable and Healthy Food Systems

-          Sustainable Cultural Experiences in the Nordic region

-          The Nordic Ecolabel’s Contribution to the realisation of NCM’s vision and climate plan

-          Sustainable Education in the Nordic region

-          Sustainability, Lifestyle and Consumption from a Gender Perspective

-          Good Life Goals – A communication effort for and by young people

Within these projects, the aim will be to make living sustainably as easy as possible. “Sustainable choices should be the default and not the alternative. We want to ensure that the systemic level enables sustainable choices to also become the easiest ones,” explained Julian Lo Curlo, member of the Nordic expert group for sustainable development.

Each project will aim to analyse current trends and use this to develop policy, share information and demonstrate best practices to all people involved in that project area.

Read more about each of the projects here: https://www.norden.org/en/node/68612