Saving energy is saving money

The economic crisis also struck Sweden and its heavy industries hard. The labour market has been going through rough times and analysts say that the overall unemployment rate might climb as high as 11% within the next year. But besides the financial crisis there is also the matter of the environmental crisis. Tackling two major crises at once might seam like a big task. Can environmental work really be prioritized in these harsh financial times? If you ask Karlstad's Environmental Strategist Karolina Pettersson the answer is obvious: "Yes, of course, there is a place for environmental work in the municipal agenda during the financial crisis! And here in Karlstad environmental work has not been down-prioritized. Saving energy is saving money. Energy saving investment opportunities is a perfect example that sometimes you also need to invest money to be able to save money."

Karolina Pettersson Environmental Strategist

For the past years Karlstad has kept a high focus on environmental issues. Karlstad holds the idiom "The Good Green City" as one of its primary guidelines and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation ranked Karlstads environmental work as the 4th best in Sweden. For example the municipality lunched a very successful Echo Action campaign, where 111 local families tried living a more environmental and energy saving everyday life. There have also been big efforts made to reach more environmental waste managing and to increase the recycling possibilities. But can a municipality's environmental effort generate new jobs during the financial crisis? Karolina replies: "Maybe not directly as an employer, but there is still an expansive market related to environmental work. And as a municipality, we need to hire both consultants and other services to carry out or environmental and energy saving campaigns. We recently closed a huge deal with a major company that will help us save 7 500 MwH, about 14% of our total energy consumption. It did not come cheap, especially in these rough financial times, but in the long run it will be worth it."

Karolina also stresses the importance of being a role model to the public. If the municipality shows its ability to tackle both a financial and environmental crisis at the same time, the public hopefully will follow its footsteps and realize that the modern economy recovers itself and the environment does not.