Climate action in a state of crisis: How Swedish collaborative climate change initiatives manage to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, Greta Thunberg encouraged the Fridays for Future protesters to move #climatestrikeonline because of the Corona Pandemic. One month later, the British government announced that the annual climate conference in Glasgow has been postponed to 2021 due to the "unique global challenge" posed by the Corona virus. The focus on climate-related issues has been replaced by debates on how to recover the economy, and fossil-intensive industries are demanding that climate action be paused. The corona virus and its societal impact have put climate action under pressure. At the same time, the Swedish government has announced an extension of the Fossil-Free Sweden initiative and the Climate Policy Council will evaluate the possibilities for a green recovery of the economy. The corona crisis entails risks and opportunities for transformation into a fossil-free society. Thus, climate activists, companies and government-led initiatives must adapt to a new environment. In this urgent application for research projects, we ask how Sweden's civil society, companies and authorities that promote climate measures navigate through the crisis. We explore how an initiative with different stakeholders (Fossil-free Sweden), a business network (the Haga initiative) and a social movement (Fridays for Future) adapt their goals, arguments and strategies to address the climate. We use a mix of methods to retrieve data, by combining a comprehensive survey with qualitative interviews with representatives from all three initiatives. companies and authorities promoting climate action are navigating through the crisis. We explore how an initiative with different stakeholders (Fossil-free Sweden), a business network (the Haga initiative) and a social movement (Fridays for Future) adapt their goals, arguments and strategies to address the climate. We use a mix of methods to retrieve data, by combining a comprehensive survey with qualitative interviews with representatives from all three initiatives. companies and authorities promoting climate action are navigating through the crisis. We explore how an initiative with different stakeholders (Fossil-free Sweden), a business network (the Haga initiative) and a social movement (Fridays for Future) adapt their goals, arguments and strategies to address the climate. We use a mix of methods to retrieve data, by combining a comprehensive survey with qualitative interviews with representatives from all three initiatives.