Kommuners möjligheter att främja hållbar konsumtion i näringslivet

Sammanfattning: Background: Today, unsustainable consumption patterns contributes to the increase of climate change and environmental degradation. Objectives: This study intends to increase the understanding of which opportunities local governments, in this study Swedish municipalities, possess to influence and cooperate with local businesses to promote development towards a more sustainable consumption. In the process the key challenges and strengths are highlighted. Design: The data collection methodology consisted of qualitative interviews with eight civil servants from different municipalities and seven qualitative interviews with civil servants from a single municipality. Results: The results show that the municipalities can work with a diverse and multifaceted set of measures, e.g. promoting, advising and influencing local businesses. Their work is affected by the municipalities’ as well as the target group’s unique local and internal conditions and framing, from which both strengths and challenges arise. Conclusions: The aggregated understanding of the interviews shows that municipalities have good opportunities to develop their work with sustainable consumption development with and towards local businesses. Several factors need to be considered to make their work effective, e.g. the internal cooperation within the municipality and time constraints of the target group. Furthermore, municipal managers should consider and balance the influence that businesses get over the local societal development to avoid suboptimal outcomes or favoring certain businesses.