In Malmö, emissions from residents' consumption are to be halved by 2030. To achieve this, more Malmö residents need to contribute by reducing their own emissions in everyday life. To get the message across and engage more residents, the city is investing in a fun communication campaign with concrete tips for a climate-smart everyday life.
Living sustainably doesn't have to be difficult - a lot of what you do is already unconsciously conscious. This is the message of the communication campaign from the City of Malmö, which premiered in 2023 and was repeated in 2024. In a light-hearted and creative way, the campaign gives examples of various climate actions - things that you as an individual can do for the climate in everyday life, often without much effort - by telling the stories of six different, fictional Malmö residents. They include Jon, who opts for vegetarian falafel at a street food stall, Siv, a decorator who rearranges things from the attic, and Mats, an office worker who takes the last piece of cake when no one is looking.
Those who scan the QR code, which goes to the page malmo.se/klimatinsatser, are greeted by a catalog with various tips on simple ways to reduce their emissions. These range from reducing food waste to carpooling with a colleague to work. The climate initiatives are designed based on statistics on what Malmö residents' emissions look like and where there is the greatest opportunity to make a difference as an individual.
Åsa Olsson and Elsa Svedin are communicators in the City of Malmö and have worked on the communication campaign.
Why did you create the climate action?
A lot is being done in Malmö for the climate, but we need to step up the pace and do more. The climate transition requires the whole city to work together in new ways to find solutions. Malmö residents are at least as important as businesses, associations and our other target groups.
When we started the project more than a year ago, our colleagues were sitting on a large body of information about what Malmö residents can and need to do to reduce consumption-based emissions. Our challenge was to package the information to reach as wide a group as possible and actually make people want to read it. After reading what researchers say and looking at what other organizations are doing, we decided to create a website that would focus on local opportunities and useful information without any preconceptions.
What did you consider when writing the tips?
We are neither the first nor the only organization providing advice on how to live more climate-smart, but what is unique about Malmö's climate action is the local connection: we have started from the needs and everyday life of Malmö residents, and looked at the challenges and opportunities in our city. For example, there are good opportunities for vacations in the immediate area, just take the bus to the beach. At the same time, we know that many Malmö residents go abroad for reasons other than sun and swimming. Perhaps they have family abroad, in a place where it is not possible to travel by train. We have also had to take this into account when we wrote the Climate Action Plan.
"We wanted to get away from the sticks and do something that feels inspiring and fun for the target group. Many people recoil as soon as they hear about a sustainable lifestyle, and we think that's because the focus is often on what you can't do as an individual. You should not fly, not eat meat and never buy new clothes. Most people then react with what researchers call loss aversion, a strong fear of being deprived of things. By focusing instead on highlighting the positive, what you already do and can do, we hope to reach more people who do not already identify with a strong climate commitment.
The campaign images highlighting Malmö's climate action feature various fictional characters such as Jon, Siv and Rio. What was the idea behind doing the campaign in this way?
The idea behind the campaign images is to show different everyday situations that a Malmö resident can recognize themselves in, and make it feel as close as possible. We wanted to broaden the picture of climate engagement and include different ages, backgrounds, lifestyles and interests. You don't have to change your whole life - there are many ways to reduce your emissions.
There is a widespread prejudice that everything about climate and sustainability must be difficult, complex and serious. We wanted to break that by making a campaign that is a bit humorous, with a twinkle in the eye. When we say that this older man in a suit is a climate hero, because he steals the last piece of cake when his colleagues aren't looking, people will hopefully find it a bit funny and unexpected. This creates a positive reaction and hopefully arouses curiosity, which increases the likelihood of wanting to read further. And even if not everyone clicks on the climate actions, we may have sown a seed and more people will start thinking: What can I do for the climate?
Linnea Folkesson, Process Manager, linnea.folkesson@malmo.se
