Global competitiveness

Swedish industry can lead the way to global change

Sweden is established as an innovative leader of several globally successful companies. This throughout the industrial value chain with a corresponding strong tradition of collaboration over multiple partnerships in politics, civil society, industry and academia. Sweden today is largely relying of energy that is fossil-free, and an opportunity exists to become 100% fossil-free. Swedish industry has shown the will insight for the novel sustainable business models that are required also to maintain and improve international competitiveness.

Swedish actors now find the opportunity to form together, the holistic approach that will be required in order to obtain the necessary transformation in and over all of the interacting and co-dependent parts of the industrial eco-system. By exporting products, models and entire value chains that have been formed sustainable and thus to contribute to climate benefits, we now have the opportunity. This to strengthen the Swedish local environment, as well as our national industry’s global competitiveness. By our export of climate neutral solutions, Sweden would contribute further to remedy climate crisis on a global level.

New business models

The transition to climate neutrality requires new business models, with increased resource efficiency and environmental adaptation throughout the life cycle. A transition to a circular economy is central to a climate-neutral industry, as the processing of materials constitutes a large part of Sweden's emissions.

This can include sharing, renting and reusing, or offering function rather than physical products. Actors from industry to consumers, that may view waste and climate efficiency with different perspectives also play an important role

Circular business models strive to

• utilize less materials and resources to produce products and / or services,
• design products to be reusable, repaired and recycled,
• extend the life of existing products and / or services through renovation and re-manufacturing,
• extension of the life of the materials by recycling products and materials.

Economic and political instruments

Today, uncertainty remains about how industrial actors should prioritize their respective future investments. A clear, ambitious and long-term common objective for Sweden's climate change would act to push businesses in a common good direction. Also the introduction of novel laws, regulation and financial incentives are required. Such that resource efficiency and circularity are rewarded over traditional linearity. One notable policy example is waste legislation, which should promote increased use of secondary raw materials. Yet another example, is a standard for materials that is common regardless of source origin.

Instruments and incentives also need to enable experimental activities. This, in the early stages of innovation, leading from basic research into commercially viable products and services introduced to the market. Following, conditions also for test and scaling are required to allow for but minimize as well economical as ecological risks, further to create basis for acceptance and general deployment.

The road to global competitiveness

Vinnova, together with Rise and Teknikföretagarna, has developed a roadmap for how Swedish industry will achieve global competitiveness.

Read the roadmap and listen to the podcasts about global competitiveness of the future