Gustaf Arrhenius elected to a council which will help government with sustainability

During the Swedish politician's week in Visby, the government decided to appoint a scientific council for sustainable development. The council will strengthen the link between politics and academia.

The government writes in a press release that the council's task will be to provide scientific contributions to various work in the area of ​​sustainability and provide the government with scientific material. According to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, the new council will support several ministries, but primarily the seven ministers in the cabinet's Future Council which is led by Kristina Persson, Minister for Future Issues. The Future Council has three groups of experts, dealing with green transition, the future of work and global cooperation. The Future Council's task is to evaluate and implement the conclusions of these three groups.

Environment Minister Åsa Romson says to Svenska Dagbladet that she hopes that the new scientific council will bring up issues that the government has not yet thought of, or which may not be in tune with what the parliamentary parties are planning for today.

The council will begin it's work in the autumn of 2015 and it will consist of twelve researchers led by Karin Markides, former head of Chalmers. One of the scientists selected to the council so far is Gustaf Arrhenius, director of the Institute for Futures Studies. Other researchers already appointed are Johan Rockström (environmental science), Lena Neij (sustainable cities and buildings) and Thomas Sterner (environmental economics).