Much of the transition to a sustainable society will fall to the municipalities. Swedish municipalities have high ambitions for sustainability, yet they still face challenges achieving the goals of Agenda 2030 and climate neutrality at their current rate and practices. Significant investments will be required to ensure this transition and many actors see an increasing need for external financing for the municipalities in the future.

Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum) at the Stockholm School of Economics, together with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Cleantech Scandinavia, explore the role of private capital as an enabler for this transition in the new report The role of private market capital in financing sustainable cities: investor and municipal views in a Swedish context. Read the report here.

The report is based on interviews with Swedish municipalities and financial actors and aims to give the financial sector and local and regional authorities a research-based understanding of the role of external funding to help municipalities achieve sustainability, climate neutrality and the goals in Agenda 2030 from a Swedish perspective. The report is developed as part of the Viable Cities project.

Report authors:

• Nina Waltré, Misum, Stockholm School of Economics
• Emma Sjöström, Co-Director of Sustainable Finance Initiative at Misum, Stockholm School of Economics
• Magnus Agerström, Cleantech Scandinavia
• Fedra Vanhuyse, Stockholm Environment Institute
• Alicia Requena Carrion, Cleantech Scandinavia

Photo credit iStock.com/Martin Wahlborg