Search

Sleep is pivotal to health, wellbeing and functioning in daily life, but sleep difficulties are common and may be affected by modifiable qualities in the residential surrounding environment, in terms of greenspace. However, population-based studies on individual-level greenspace and sleep are limited. The objective of the current study was thus to investigate prospective associations between fine-grained individual-level residential greenspace and sleep, and moderating effects of life style (physical activity, work status) and sex, in a nationwide population-based Swedish cohort. Participants of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)—a population-based sample of adults in Sweden—were studied during 2014–2018 (19,375 individuals; 43,062 observations). Residential greenspace land cover, and coherent green area size, were assessed via high resolution geographic information systems, at 50, 100, 300, 500 and 1000 m buffers around residences. Prospective greenspace and sleep associations were assessed via multilevel general linear models, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic (individual and neighborhood), life style and urban factors. Higher greenspace availability in the immediate residential surroundings (50 m and 100 m buffer zones) was associated with less sleep difficulties, even after adjustment for confounders. Greenspace effects were generally greater among non-working individuals. Among the physically active, and among non-working, greenspace and green area size further away from home (300, 500 and 1000 m, i.e. dependent on mobility) were also associated with less sleep difficulties. Residential greenspace in the immediate residential surroundings is associated with significantly less sleep difficulties. Greenspace further away from home was associated with better sleep especially among the physically active, and non-working individuals. The results highlight the importance of greenspace in the immediate residential-surrounding environment for sleep, and the need to integrate health and environmental policies, urban planning and greening. • Greenspace in immediate residential surrounding is associated with better sleep. • Greenspace-sleep associations are stronger among non-working, who may be more exposed. • Greenspace further away is associated with sleep primarily among physically active. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate behavioral spillovers from environmental policy within the context of a natural experiment on food waste in Sweden. Exploiting the staggered implementation of food-waste collection across Swedish municipalities, we use a difference-in-difference design to measure the causal effect of introducing such collection on another pro-environmental behavior, namely the sorting of packaging waste. Results suggest a positive spillover effect on packaging waste which corresponds to 5–10% of the population average and rises gradually over time, possibly due to slow implementation of food-waste collection in many municipalities. These estimates are unconfounded with a number of shifts in the waste-related incentives facing households, e.g. introduction of curbside collection of packaging waste from single-family homes. Although we are unable to directly account for all such factors, indirect robustness tests provide no compelling evidence that estimated spillovers are spurious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary processes of environmental policymaking in general span over several territorial tiers. This also holds for the EU Water Framework Directive system of environmental quality standards (EQS), which are part of a complex multi-level institutional landscape, embracing both EU, national and sub-national level. Recent evaluations show that many EU member states, including Sweden, have not reached the ecological goals for water in 2015. Departing from theories on policy coherence and multi-level governance, this paper therefore analyses Swedish water governance as a case to further our understanding of policy implementation in complex governance structures: how does policy coherence (or the lack thereof) affect policy implementation in complex governance structures? To answer this question, the paper maps out the formal structure of the water governance system, focusing on power directions within the system, analyses policy coherence in Swedish water governance through mapping out policy conflicts between the EQS for water and other goals/regulations and explore how they are handled by national and sub-national water bureaucrats. The study concludes that without clear central guidance, ‘good ecological status’ for Swedish water will be difficult to achieve since incoherent policies makes policy implementation inefficient due to constant power struggles between different authorities, and since environmental goals are often overridden by economic and other societal goals. Further research is needed in order to explore if similar policy conflicts between water quality and other objectives occur in other EU member states and how bureaucrats handle such conflicts in different institutional settings. This study of the Swedish case indicates that the role of the state as a navigator and rudder-holder is important in order to improve policy implementation in complex governance structures – otherwise; bureaucrats risk being lost in an incoherent archipelago of ecological, social and economic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea has in Sweden led to the initiation of government schemes aiming to increase wetland areas in agricultural regions and thereby reduce nutrient transport to the sea. Landowners play a significant role as providers of this ecosystem service and are currently offered subsidies to cover their costs for constructing and maintaining wetlands. We undertook a grounded theory study, in which landowners were interviewed, aiming at identifying landowners'' incentives for constructing wetlands on their land. The study showed that adequate subsidies, additional services that the wetland could provide to the landowner, local environmental benefits, sufficient knowledge, and peers'' good experiences could encourage landowners to construct wetlands. Perceived hindrances were burdensome management, deficient knowledge, time-consuming application procedures and unclear effectiveness of nutrient reduction. The main reason for not creating a wetland, however, was that the land was classified as productive by the landowner, i.e., suitable for food production. Current schemes are directed toward landowners as individuals and based on subsidies to cover costs. We propose that landowners instead are approached as ecosystem service entrepreneurs and contracted after a tendering process based on nutrient reduction effects. This would lead to new definitions of production and may stimulate improved design and placement of wetlands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper contributes with an applied policy analysis of the predator preservation policy in Sweden. We estimate the overall mean willingness to pay (WTP) for preserving the four large predators in the Swedish fauna by applying the contingent valuation method. Using survey data from 2004 we find that 50 percent of the Swedish population is willing to contribute financially toward implementation of the predator policy package, and that the estimated overall mean WTP is approximately SEK 290. Further, we test for spatial differences in attitudes and WTP and find that respondents in Stockholm have the highest overall mean WTP, while respondents living in wolf-territories have the lowest. Our mean WTP measure is flawed with upward bias, since we cannot estimate the willingness to accept for those with clearly negative preferences regarding the predator policy package (e.g. hunters). In this paper, we set their WTP equal to zero. Thus, we cannot rule out the possibility that the mean willingness to pay is, in fact, negative, i.e. the social-value of implementing the predator policy is negative. Finally, the estimates of the overall WTP are sensitive to response-uncertainty. When the respondents indicate uncertainty about their valuation, they tend to state higher values. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As part of a larger research effort, the empirical basis for this note is responses to four out of many questions in a mailed survey, which primarily focused on national environmental objectives in Sweden. The results show that out of eight broad areas for use of tax money, five—including environment—are rated as important by over 90% of the respondents. Respondents appear to be less willing to discriminate between different issues covered by national environmental objectives, as all of these are rated as important by more than 80% of the respondents. The function of the ozone layer is an example of an environmental issue where the knowledge among people is relatively high, while this is not the case when it comes to the amount of pesticides used in agriculture. The results also show less support for actions at the individual level to improve the environment, as compared to support for actions taken by society at large through, e.g., technological improvement or policy intervention. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper evaluates the behavioral spillover effect of organic waste sorting on households' waste reduction. We use an administrative household-level dataset on residential waste from a Swedish municipality. To identify the spillover effects, we utilize a natural experiment triggered by the staggered implementation of a policy that introduced home-based organic waste sorting bins. We find a substantial positive spillover effect of waste sorting on waste reduction. The effect, however, disappears over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using identical surveys a decade apart, we examine how attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for climate policies have changed in the United States, China, and Sweden. All three countries exhibit an increased willingness to pay for climate mitigation. Ten years ago, Sweden had a larger fraction of believers in anthropogenic climate change and a higher WTP for mitigation, but today the national averages are more similar. Although we find convergence in public support for climate policy across countries, there is considerable divergence in both WTP and climate attitudes within countries. Political polarization explains part of this divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eutrophication of coastal waters is a recognised problem in estuaries around the globe. To analyse cross-boundary water quality management, such as protection of the Baltic Sea, economic nutrient abatement models commonly operate on a large scale, grouping river systems to large catchment areas. Theoretical deliberation suggests that modelling abatement in such a way removes the opportunity of targeting measures to the most vulnerable regions within the catchment, while overestimating the capacity of abatement measures in the upstream areas. However, the implications on designing environmental policy depend on catchment characteristics and the stringency of the abatement targets. In this study a model of the catchment area is built with zones that are an increasing distance away from the coast to show what kind of bias in the optimal abatement set is caused by the assumption of spatial homogeneity. By solving the model with and without the zones for good ecological status at the South-West coast of Sweden, it is shown that while assuming homogeneity prevents from perceiving the abatement measures where they would be the most effective, it also leads to ignoring spatial limitations that are more relevant to a subset of abatement measures, such as the wetlands and buffer zones. Following from the relatively large nitrogen abatement targets, the overall effect of assuming catchment homogeneity is to underestimate the abatement costs and to overestimate the potential of wetlands to reduce nitrogen. • Typical economic models of water policies lead to underestimated cost estimates. • Typical economic models of water policies overestimate nutrient reduction capacity. • Wetlands are less effective in solving Baltic Sea water quality issues than expected. • Good ecological status for the coast of Sweden is likely more costly than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]