Why this tool?

Measurement is important

Accelerating the green transition requires measures to steer financing towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. A tool might support SMEs in medium- and long term decision making.

Start reporting

The influence of standards on the Nordic economies: Three decades of increased labor activity and rise in GDP

In 2018 Nordic Innovation, Menon Economics and Oxford Research examined the impact standards has had on the Nordic economy in the period 1976-2014. The main findings from the study shows that standards that are developed in consensus with the participation of companies is an effective means for spreading and applying knowledge, and in turn creating benefits for the wider economy.

Moreover, the report discovered that standardization has contributed to increased labor productivity in all the Nordic countries. Additionally, the report reveals that following and applying standards is an important part of Nordic companies’ business plans, which gives a strong indication that standards also will be important for future economic development. Read the full report here.

The Reality Check

The demand for validated and comparable sustainability reporting will increase in the Nordic area regardless of company size.

Accelerating the green transition requires measures to steer financing towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Cross border transactions are at a high level in the Nordic. Strengthening the interconnectedness and co-dependency in the Nordic area will increase the robustness in the region when facing the predicted climate risks that are likely to occur the coming decades. Covid-19 has taught us the importance of resilience beyond the global value chains.

In order to maintain the local activity in the region, we need Nordic companies that actively cooperate to create a new framework for sustainable products and develop new solutions that have a net positive climate effect. Those companies that rethink the business model will have a major competitive advantage.

This progressive transition to a sustainable economic system is an indispensable part of the new EU industrial strategy. Also, many large Nordic companies has set their own bold climate goals the last years. We see companies like IKEA, Flokk, Asko, Norgesgruppen, and Bergans wanting to be climate neutral within 5 – 10 years. This has a huge impact for all their small suppliers, who are accountants’ customers, and who will have to develop climate neutral products and services and to document and report on the process.

This means, very soon all Nordic companies must keep a record of climate footprint, measure and report on circularity. Today’s standards for sustainability reporting are developed with the large companies in mind and is difficult for smaller companies to adopt. We need a Nordic objective reporting tool that are applicable for SMEs. This is the mission we have set out to do.

“The goal is to accelerate the green transition in the region by helping accountants advise their customers – the SMEs.”

Christine Lundberg Larsen
Member of the NSRS board

Climate change as a call to action

Global consumption of raw materials are expected to double in the next forty years, and the world will be consuming as if there were three planet Earth by 2050. Half of the total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress come from resource extraction and processing.

Scaling up the circular economy from front-runners to the mainstream economic players will enable decoupling economic growth

from resource use and make a decisive contribution to achieving climate neutrality. To fulfill this ambition, we need to accelerate the transition towards a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes, advance towards keeping its resource consumption within planetary boundaries. It means significantly reduce the consumption footprint and double the rate of circular material usage in the coming decade.

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