Work and production in the sustainability transition—Four pathways to a low-carbon society
J. Malmaeus, Mikael ; Andreou Brolin, Linn LU
; Hagbert, Pernilla
; Nyblom, Åsa
; Särnbratt, Mirjam
LU
and Rootzén, Johan
(2026)
In Energy Research & Social Science
134.
- Abstract
- Current strategies to reduce the climate impact of production and consumption are insufficient to meet the pressing targets of the Paris Agreement. To expand visions of the possible ‘solution space’ in climate transitions, we explore a framework based on two dichotomies centred around the role of labour and the composition of economic output. From these dichotomies we sketch out four pathways for a future low-carbon society: Green growth, Care economy, Degrowth and Green accelerationism. Using a stylized representation of the Swedish economy as a case, we explore possible changes in the economic structure following the different pathways with respect to labour inputs, production volumes, GHG emissions and resource use in different sectors.... (More)
- Current strategies to reduce the climate impact of production and consumption are insufficient to meet the pressing targets of the Paris Agreement. To expand visions of the possible ‘solution space’ in climate transitions, we explore a framework based on two dichotomies centred around the role of labour and the composition of economic output. From these dichotomies we sketch out four pathways for a future low-carbon society: Green growth, Care economy, Degrowth and Green accelerationism. Using a stylized representation of the Swedish economy as a case, we explore possible changes in the economic structure following the different pathways with respect to labour inputs, production volumes, GHG emissions and resource use in different sectors. The pathways suggest different strategies and overarching logics for decarbonisation. The results indicate that the technological emphasis in prevalent green growth strategies is not sufficient to stay within a carbon budget in line with the Paris agreement. Depending on the pathway taken, the upholding of social welfare, reassessing the role of labour and shifting production and consumption patterns become key challenges. Overall, key insights indicate that swift, radical transformation can advance climate goal attainment but also demands major societal reorganisation. The results also illustrate how the different transformation pathways entail distinct trade-offs, each associated with its own set of advantages and challenges. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a3f8d7d9-ff10-4a1b-b868-33f276d8aaeb
- author
- J. Malmaeus, Mikael
; Andreou Brolin, Linn
LU
; Hagbert, Pernilla
; Nyblom, Åsa
; Särnbratt, Mirjam
LU
and Rootzén, Johan
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Energy Research & Social Science
- volume
- 134
- article number
- 104638
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105032257954
- ISSN
- 2214-6296
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104638
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a3f8d7d9-ff10-4a1b-b868-33f276d8aaeb
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-17 07:34:37
- date last changed
- 2026-04-20 10:31:56
@article{a3f8d7d9-ff10-4a1b-b868-33f276d8aaeb,
abstract = {{Current strategies to reduce the climate impact of production and consumption are insufficient to meet the pressing targets of the Paris Agreement. To expand visions of the possible ‘solution space’ in climate transitions, we explore a framework based on two dichotomies centred around the role of labour and the composition of economic output. From these dichotomies we sketch out four pathways for a future low-carbon society: Green growth, Care economy, Degrowth and Green accelerationism. Using a stylized representation of the Swedish economy as a case, we explore possible changes in the economic structure following the different pathways with respect to labour inputs, production volumes, GHG emissions and resource use in different sectors. The pathways suggest different strategies and overarching logics for decarbonisation. The results indicate that the technological emphasis in prevalent green growth strategies is not sufficient to stay within a carbon budget in line with the Paris agreement. Depending on the pathway taken, the upholding of social welfare, reassessing the role of labour and shifting production and consumption patterns become key challenges. Overall, key insights indicate that swift, radical transformation can advance climate goal attainment but also demands major societal reorganisation. The results also illustrate how the different transformation pathways entail distinct trade-offs, each associated with its own set of advantages and challenges.}},
author = {{J. Malmaeus, Mikael and Andreou Brolin, Linn and Hagbert, Pernilla and Nyblom, Åsa and Särnbratt, Mirjam and Rootzén, Johan}},
issn = {{2214-6296}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Energy Research & Social Science}},
title = {{Work and production in the sustainability transition—Four pathways to a low-carbon society}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104638}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.erss.2026.104638}},
volume = {{134}},
year = {{2026}},
}