"Now Sweden needs to choose a path"

What is the price of putting the industrial transition on the shelf? What happens if we just continue as we are now? That is the question that the government-appointed The Acceleration Office had it examined. Answer: it will be expensive.

Their report Develop or dismantle, released last week, clearly shows that the status quo does not exist. Without change, stagnation awaits. “It is easy to imagine that the current situation will continue if nothing is done, but this is often not the case. Companies and municipalities need to invest to maintain competitiveness and attractiveness,” the report’s summary states.

The consulting firm Ramboll has used a special model to analyze the socio-economic impact of an investment in transition not being implemented. This includes tax revenues, jobs, population growth and carbon emissions. In their report, they have based their analysis on three hypothetical cases, two of which are in Norrbotten – Step in Boden and SSAB in Luleå.

“The alternative is very unattractive”

A year ago we launched our report Norrbotten: Industrial transition and its socio-economic effects. In collaboration with McKinsey, we were able to show the socio-economic potential of the industrial transition in Norrbotten. Now, the Acceleration Office has looked at the opposite – the effect of not investing.

"The transformation of Swedish industry is taking place here and now throughout the country. This report helps us understand why the transformation is happening. It is not just about legal requirements or a reluctant adaptation. It is about the fact that the alternative of doing nothing is very unattractive and associated with great risks," says the foreword by Kristina Alvendal and Jonas Lundström, industry coordinators at the Acceleration Office.

Anders Öberg, Chairman of the Regional Board of Region Norrbotten. Photo: Simon Eliasson.

– The Acceleration Office's report underlines what we have already said in Norrbotten. The industrial transition is a larger movement than a few individual industrial projects. Now Sweden needs to choose a path: do we want to invest in the continued competitiveness of Swedish industry, or rather take the costs that will inevitably follow if we do not change? The question affects everyone in Sweden, because weakened competitiveness will hit the financing of welfare, says Anders Öberg (S), chairman of the regional board in Region Norrbotten.

Text: Sara Stylbäck Vesa