Sustainability at Formas
Formas contributes to sustainable development in many ways, by funding research and innovation and through our other assignments. Our work is based on the vision “Knowledge builds a sustainable world”, and we strive to practice what we preach within our organisation.
The environment at the core of what we do
The main priority of our sustainability efforts is to reduce the environmental impact of our operations. We follow the requirements stipulated in the environmental management requirements for government agencies
External link. and travel-free meetings (REMM) External link.. At the same time, we strive to be an attractive and responsible employer. We are also committed to integrating the 2030 Agenda across our operations in various ways to more methodically do our part to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Environmental policy and goals
We updated our environmental policy and goals at the end of the year based on the 2020 environmental assessment.
Formas is a government agency tasked with funding, analysing, compiling and otherwise promoting and applying research and innovation to achieve sustainable development. We therefore work towards a development that meets today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Our responsibilities lie within the areas of environment, agricultural sciences and spatial planning.
Formas’ work is based on the vision Knowledge builds a sustainable world, and every day we strive to make a positive contribution through our operations. In parallel, we have an ambition to live as we teach and wish to reduce the negative impact our activities can have on the environment despite our efforts. Therefore, we intend to particularly encourage environmental considerations in the projects we fund, reduce emissions from business travel, conduct travel-free sustainable meetings, and set relevant environmental requirements for the products and services we need to buy.
We aim to conduct systematic environmental activities to comply with and support current environmental legislation, regulations and other binding requirements, Sweden’s national environmental quality objectives, and the SDGs in the UN’s Agenda 2030.
We accomplish this in the following ways:
- Regularly enhance the contribution of our business to achieving sustainable development.
- Protect the environment through measures that prevent and minimise negative impacts.
- Reduce consumption and waste, and promote recycling, reuse and resource efficiency.
- Take environmental considerations into account when choosing products and services.
- Encourage and enable employees to consider the environment.
- Integrate environmental efforts into existing processes and strive for continuous improvement.
- Interact with stakeholders for sustainable development.
The environmental policy includes Formas’ environmental goals and an action plan for achieving them. The governing documents serve as input for our environmental management system and are revised at least once every three years. The environmental policy is made available to all.
Our target areas include overall long-term goals and targets with a shorter time horizon.
- Reduce potentially negative environmental impact in funded projects.
- Reduce emissions from business travel annually, achieve net-zero emissions by 2030.
- 2.1 Reduce CO2 emissions from business travel by 80% by the end of 2023 compared to the base period 2017–2019, to a maximum of 22 tonnes of CO2.
- Further develop online meeting formats and reduce the environmental impact of in-person meetings.
- 3.1 Conduct all meetings in a way that enables effective and rewarding online participation starting in 2021.
- Reduce the environmental impact of products and services through systematic, environmentally friendly procurement and consideration of environmental impact during the life cycle.
By achieving the goals, Formas can contribute to the environmental dimension of Agenda 2030, in particular to SDG 12, Sustainable consumption and production, and SDG 13, Climate action.
Actions taken
We work in different ways to improve our sustainability work on an ongoing basis. Among other measures, we have a separate policy for meetings and travel, and even before the Covid-19 pandemic made efforts to support travel-free work.
We call for environmental considerations in the projects we fund, and have included environmental considerations in our procurement guidelines. At the office, we have complete waste sorting and are taking action for a more circular management of discarded IT equipment. A full account of these actions can be found in our report to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The documentation is included in the annual compilation of the authorities’ environmental management activities (in Swedish) External link..
We welcome comments and ideas about Formas’ sustainability work.
Contact information
