Project Structure
The first phase of PRINCE ran from 2014-2018 and developed the hybrid model plus official statistics on CO2 emission emerging from Swedish consumption, produced both territorially and aboard. The team divided themselves between 7 subprojects – focusing on developing indicators for specific areas and operationalizing the model.
With renewed funding Phase 2 kicked off in January 2021 and will continue for one year, delving deeper into biodiversity, fish & fishery, and land-use change impacts from consumption.
Research areas
Greenhouse gases, Water, Materials, Land, Energy
The method and model were completed in 2019, with results for the following footprints for all Swedish consumption, between 2014-2018.
Chemicals
Chemicals are in the products we buy and consume, in industrial processes, in agricultural production; they are all around us when we live and work. But there is growing concern about their impacts on health and the environment.
Agriculture & Land use change
The conversion of tropical forests to cropland, pastures and forest plantations results in major losses of carbon sequestration, biodiversity and livelihoods. Until recently there were no comprehensive data linking consumption of agricultural commodities to deforestation and associated environmental impacts.
Biodiversity
The complexity of the multifaceted concept of “biodiversity”, makes it impossible to reduce to a simple or single metric. Instead, consumption-based accounts must use credible proxies for biodiversity to understand the impacts and trends of impacts associated with consumption.
Fisheries
While consumption-based accounts detailing the environmental impacts or risks associated with terrestrial environments are widespread, impacts on aquatic and marine environments have received limited attention in comparison.
Project Timeline
2021
PRINCE phase 2 kicks off
With renewed funding Phase 2 kicked off in January 2021, delving deeper into biodiversity, fisheries, chemicals and land-use change impacts from consumption.
Webinar & workshop: Tracking Sweden’s consumption-based environmental impacts
On behalf of the PRINCE project, SEI hosted a webinar and workshop on the gaps and possibilities between the current tools to measure consumption-based environmental pressures and the policy landscape in achieving SDG 12. Watch the webinar and read the workshop brief here.
2018
PRINCE time-series data available for download
PRINCE time-series data for GHG emissions, air pollutants, material flows, and water and land use, 2008–2014 now available for download.
2018
PRINCE final report published
The Swedish EPA publishes the final report of the PRINCE project. Read more.
2018
PRINCE final presentation
The PRINCE methods and results will be the subject of a seminar at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in Stockholm. Invitation only, but…
2017
PRINCE hotspots work presented at industrial ecology meeting
Bertram de Boer presented a process for identifying potential room for improvement in national footprints. Read more
2017
PRINCE enters the final stretch
On 7-8 June, the PRINCE team met up to plan for the final project phase.
2017
PRINCE presented at “lab” on consumption-based indicators for Germany
SEI’s Holger Hoff presented the groundbreaking PRINCE work project to German policy-makers, authorities and researchers at the SDSN-GIZ Lab on…
2017
Paper: Updated chemical footprint indicators using USEtox 2.01
A follow-up to the “First steps . . .” paper compares results using USEtox 2.01 and simple mass indicators. Read more
2016
Brief: Environmental Footprinting with Multiregional Input-output Models
A quick introduction to the approach at the heart of the PRINCE indicators: using a multiregional input-output model for more accurate…
2016
PRINCE at 24th International Input-Output Conference
Richard Wood and Bertram de Boer presented on different aspects of the PRINCE modelling work. Read more
2016
Blog: How can we measure national chemical footprints?
A quick introduction to the approach at the heart of the PRINCE
Göran Finnveden talks about the challenges of producing the first national chemicals footprint. Read more
2016
Blog: Challenges of measuring the food consumption footprint, by Christel Cederberg
Christel Cederberg on the importance, and challenges, of monitoring environmental pressures related to food consumption. Read more
2015
Verkstad om hållbar konsumtion och produktion
A quick introduction to the approach at the heart of the PRINCE
Viveka Palm presented PRINCE at the EPA’s National Workshop on Sustainable Consumption and Production. Watch the presentation (in Swedish)
2015
Paper: First steps towards a national chemical footprint
A new way of using data on point-source emissions in constructing hazardous chemical footprint indicators. Read more