Many of my family and friends have heard me rant and rave about environmental issues, and about how conscious the Swedes are in many ways, in comparison to other nationalities - it is that love of the environment, of nature, of the great outdoors that does it I think. Needless to say I was thrilled to read about this award and hope it will inspire people - big and small - to even greater things.
Here is part of the motivation behind the award:The award will be given to a city that has a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards, is permanently committed to ambitious action, further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and can act as a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices in all other European cities.
And why Stockholm?
Ten per cent of the city area is water, and the many lakes and water sheds are highly valued for recreational purposes. In fact, 95% of the population live only 300 m away from green areas, thus augmenting recreation, swimming, boating, better well being, water purification, noise reduction, enhancement of biodiversity and ecology.
The city council's holistic vision combines growth with sustainable development and includes the ambitious target of becoming independent of fossil fuels by 2050.
....emissions per person have, since 1990, been reduced by 25%. Transport emissions are relatively low, and all public transport (all trains, and all inner city buses) run on renewable fuels....
You can read more here:
The Stockholm City Council has a barometer outlining the indicators that are used to assess a city for the Green Capital Award. It is a wealth of information and includes statistics and links to strategic environmental policy and programs:
With all the talk at the moment of what the royal wedding will do for Sweden, tourism and the economy, as well as how businesses will milk it for all it is worth, I really hope Stockholm will be able to use all this international attention to bring focus to the award and environmental sustainability in general.
Woohooo Stockholm! Well done!
SvD, DN, Metro
But is Stockholm really that friendly to the environment? 80%, or something, of the politicans want to almost double the number of cars in Stockholm in the next 20 years by building "Förbifart Stockholm" and some more highways. Thats alot more then the population will increase.
ReplyDeleteThe Present rulers in Stockholm Municipality wants that every household should own a car. In other municipalities in Stockholm Locality the number is even higher, like 1.2 or 1.3 cars per household.
I live in Bromma - I want Förbifart!!
ReplyDeleteI agree projects like this encourage us to take the car but at the end of the day its up to the individual to make a conscious choice. Swedes are conscious in many, many ways - although there is of course still a lot more work to be done in that area.
And it is relative - I come from a city that is so car dominated - Stockholm does not even compare.
Solving current traffic problems does not mean we want to encourage traffic - but improve the living conditions for people living in unnecessarily high traffic areas. Other measures can be put in place at the same time to keep car numbers under control.
"Solving current traffic problems does not mean we want to encourage traffic - but improve the living conditions for people living in unnecessarily high traffic areas. Other measures can be put in place at the same time to keep car numbers under control."
ReplyDeleteThe Förbifart will not improve the conditions on any other roads or streets. It's a myth not even supported by vägverkets study. The traffic will NOT decrease on other places due to the Förbifart. Therefore it will not solve current traffic problems, as you said. A few people will be able to travel faster with the Förbifart but the absolute majority will travel slower, even by car, when the Förbifart is built than now.
More roads simply increase the traffic and the distances, and thats why more roads doesn't cut travel time.
Yaay go us!
ReplyDelete