EU-taxonomins bidrag till strategiskt hållbarhetsarbete : En omvärldsanalys och fallstudie inom vatten- och avloppsledning

Sammanfattning: Mankind has worked with the climate crisis and other sustainability issues since the 1990s, but this hasn’t had any desired effect. One of the problems relates to interpretations of the term sustainability. It has caused confusion, and work towards developing shared understandings is still an ongoing process. Sustainability challenges pertain to all industries. The Swedish water sector faces several challenges today. One of these challenges relates to the need for investments in the Swedish water and wastewater (W&WW) pipelines. The growing population requires an expanded W&WW network, and the existing network needs to be updated to maintain a high-quality product.  As part of the EU’s Green Deal for making the European economy more sustainable and more resilient the EU-taxonomy has been developed to put political goals into practices and measurements of performance. The role of the Taxonomy is to pave the way towards what currently is perceived as environmental sustainability. This creates transparency and simplifies investments to lead to more sustainable choices.  The aim of this study was to investigate how the EU-taxonomy affects the Swedish construction of W&WW pipelines and how this can be used in strategic sustainability efforts. This was done through research on both W&WW pipe construction and sustainability frameworks. A case study has been used to acquire a picture of how existing routines stand in relation to the EU-taxonomy. The objects of the case study have been one consulting firm in urban development and one public actor, responsible for developing the municipality’s W&WW network, a so-called VA-huvudman. To further contextualize the EU-taxonomy, the theoretical Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) has been applied. This is a research-based framework, as opposed to a political one – such as the EU-taxonomy or Agenda 2030. The framework has been used to understand what the EU-taxonomy can contribute as a tool for the strategic work with FSSD. Standardization has also been applied as a concept, in order to highlight the use of the EU-taxonomy.  In the empirical study, the result shows that the structure of the EU-taxonomy makes it difficult to apply it on a subject as specific as a W&WW pipeline construction. Furthermore, the criteria within the Taxonomy challenging to apply on W&WW pipelines since they apply to the entire water, or water treatment, system. Further work with the Taxonomy requires more horizontal coordination within the organizations to report on and fulfill the criteria.  Since the EU-taxonomy lacks a life cycle perspective it doesn’t include the whole life cycle or indirect activities related to W&WW pipeline construction, such as choice of material or the construction process. A complementary framework, or other measures, are needed in order to capture environmental aspects of sustainability.