The Swedish Citizens’ Assembly on Climate was organised as part of the research programme Fairtrans, a collaboration between academic institutions Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, University of Gävle, Uppsala University, Lund University, and IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute and partners from civil society.
Remit
The Assembly was tasked with generating proposals on how Sweden can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, with a focus on transportation. The Assembly was organised specifically in response to the increasingly polarised and partisan climate debate in Sweden.
Commitment to respond
The Fairtrans project aims to influence Fairtanspartners, political institutions and actors based on the outcomes.
Deliverybodies
DigidemLab was responsible for design and implementation of the Assembly, with support from DEMOCRACY X. Enkätfabriken was responsible for recruitment.
Governance
An Advisory Board reviewed and advised on the planning of the Assembly, consisting of a wide variety of political and public figures who are in some way connected to Sweden’s work with accomplishing the goals of the Paris Agreement. Two mentors provided support and inspiration to the assembly members. These were well-known public figures, one a professor of environmental history and the other a former Olympic athlete now working on children’s health.
Participant recruitment
Recruitment was carried out by Enkätfabriken following democratic lottery methodology and having received advice from the Sortition Foundation. 7,000 introductory invitations were sent to randomly selected residents across Sweden. The 60 members of the assembly were selected from a pool of 473 volunteers applying the following criteria: gender, educational level, geography (urban/rural), party political allegiance and opinions about the seriousness of climate change and its consequences. Participants received an honorarium of 8.000 SEK (~ €700) for attending all meetings.
Duration
The Swedish Citizens’ Assembly on Climate met between March and May 2024.
Structure
The Assembly combined nine in-person and online meetings. The members met physically on the first and final weekend (9-10 March and 18-19 May). In between, the citizens' council met online for five Thursday evenings (21 March, 11 April, 18 April, 25 April, and 2 May).
Facilitation
The design of the Assembly was geared to ensure that different people’s experiences and voices were given equal weight, and that differences in power and privilege were, as far as possible, considered, and rebalanced. The assembly combined a mix of plenary sessions with experts and breakouts for deliberations. DigidemLab designed, organized, and facilitated the Assembly.
Evidencebase
Fifteen selected expert witnesses from a variety of fields and sectors presented to the members of the Assembly. The experts were also asked to write a summary text that was then compiled into a knowledge booklet that was distributed to the assembly members.
During the first weekend members played an interactive climate science game – Climate Fresk – to develop their familiarity with IPCC science on climate change.
The members of the Assembly also had the opportunity to request additional expert testimony and utilised this right to request more knowledge about the impact of battery production on people and the environment, why it is difficult to break old habits, and politicians' perspectives on climate policy.
Details of evidence presented can be found on the assembly website.
Developing recommendations
The members of the Assembly jointly came up with a collective general statement plus 22 recommendations with 66 specific suggestions for how Sweden can tackle achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement as well as Sweden’s carbon budget. These were individually voted on by 49 members in the last weekend.
The Assembly's joint statement, supported by 93% of Assembly members, emphasised the urgent need for action on climate, highlighted the consensus reached by members despite their different backgrounds, and their shared commitment to asustainable future.
The statement called for cooperation between different societal actors and underlined the need for political consensus on the climate issue, improved communication of climate science, business responsibility, and the need for behavioural change supported by incentives.
The voting results show a high degree of consensus, with all proposals receiving majority support. The proposals focusing on investments and improvements in public transport received particularly strong support, with around 90 per cent of members backing them (#10, #18, #21, #22).
Proposals for tax measures aimed at discouraging certain behaviours received less support, although 78% of members voted in favour of measures on increasing airline taxes (#6.1, #7.1). Other proposals focused on strengthening climate education, promoting cross-bloc climate policy cooperation, and empoweringlocal communities to contribute to climate action.
Final report
A reporton the recommendations from the Assembly was published in the Fall of 2024(in Swedish). In March 2025, the final report was made available, containingappendices such as recruitment letters, session overviews, and other relevantmaterials. The final report is available for download (in Swedish, withEnglish executive summary) here: MoK FinalReport.
Official response
No official response has been released. Since the assembly was organized independently of government, it has no responsibility to respond formally.
Communications
The Swedish Climate Assembly had a communication strategy with the aim of reaching outwidely to both the public and decision-makers. The aim was to contribute to the public debate on climate issues by:
- Empowering members as spokespersons and to share their own experiences and insights
- Building long-term relationships with the media to ensure continuous coverage
- Establishing a strong social media presence to reach more audiences
- Engaging civil society and policy makers through presentations, seminars, and consultations
The public figures in the consultation group and the mentors contributed to media visibility. SVT Nyheter's ongoing coverage also played an important role in dissemination and the opportunity to profile members and provide insight into the process.
Impact
The media has shown some interest in the Assembly which is the first of its kind in Sweden. The Assembly was reported on in hundreds of news stories on TV, radio, and newspapers. Around 1,550 people followed the assembly on social media and coverage had a combined reach of 22 million on radio, TV podcasts and social channels. Some of the media articles can be found here.
Fairtrans researchers and climate assembly members have presented the CA and its findings at over 30 presentations to a range of stakeholders including Stockholm City parliament, the Swedish Climate Policy Council, political festivals, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the international Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies, and on, 27 November2024, the Swedish Parliament.
Evaluation
The final report (in Swedish with English executive summary) presents evaluation survey results as well as internal reflections from the team.
The impact of the assembly on public discourse and Swedish climate politics is being researched by Fairtrans researchers and a separate Swedish research project (2024-25), and as a case study for the RETOOL EU Horizon project.
Budget
The FAIRTRANS project has received funding from Mistra and FORMAS, with additional funding for the assembly from the European Climate Foundation and the Horizon Europe Worldtrans research project. The total budget is estimated in the final reportas 4.4 million SEK, which excludes some in-kind contributions of personnel funded by Fairtrans as well as volunteers, speakers, and facilitators. The budget for the Assembly itself has not yet been made public.
