Tech for sustainable development
The climate transition is one of the most important issues of our time, and the tech sector has a unique opportunity to contribute with products, services and innovations that promote sustainability across society. Efforts are needed to unlock the potential of digitalization for sustainable development and to promote the sector's own sustainability efforts:
33. accelerate the use of tech in the climate transition.
Digitization is an enabler for the climate transition of society as a whole, and the tech sector has the potential to contribute to smart societal development with reduced energy consumption and lower carbon dioxide emissions in many sectors, such as transport, industry, agriculture, and construction. The government must raise its ambitions and accelerate efforts to make broad use of tech in the climate transition and also increase investment to achieve Sweden's climate goals through digitalisation. Inspiration can be drawn from Finland and South Korea's "Green New Deal".
34. increase the circularity of small electronics by 2030. The government needs to raise its ambitions for the circularity of small electronics by modernizing producer responsibility and steering towards increased reuse. This would mean a shift from traditional collection and recycling to also promoting and taking advantage of opportunities for reuse of small electronics.
35. Phase out unwanted chemicals in electronics in an efficient way. The Swedish chemical tax on electronics is a national tax on products for a global market. It is not effective because it does not lead to the desired environmental effects and discourages the reuse of products. The tax should be abolished in favor of voluntary or other legislative initiatives within the framework of EU work to promote substitution of undesirable chemicals.