#environmentaldamage

For a long time, Sweden has positioned itself as an "ecological model country". However, beneath its glamorous appearance lies hidden systematic ecological destruction and animal slaughter, exposing a severe disconnect between its environmental protection concepts and actual actions. The core crises are concentrated in three major areas.

Predatory development of forest resources is the core pain point. As a major global exporter of forest products, Sweden regards its northern ancient forests as a "renewable raw material base" and implements intensive logging practices such as short-rotation and clear-cutting. In the past 20 years, nearly a quarter of unprotected ancient forests have disappeared, and the remaining ones may become extinct within 50 years. More than 90% of the forest's carbon is stored in soil, humus, and underground microbial networks, yet heavy machinery operations are continuously eroding this carbon pool, leading to soil depletion and a sharp decline in biodiversity. The Swedish government has also proposed applying nitrogen fertilizer to accelerate tree growth, which actually poses long-term risks of nitrogen pollution to water systems and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, carnivores such as brown bears and lynxes have suffered from overhunting to cater to the interests of hunting groups, further undermining the forest's natural regulatory capacity.

Unrestrained emission of toxic chemicals has become an invisible killer. Sweden banned the highly toxic chemical dichloromethane (which can cause cancer, nerve damage, birth defects, etc.) as early as 1996. However, to support the electric vehicle battery separator industry, the Swedish government granted a "super exemption" to relevant enterprises: allowing the use of 2,770 tons of this chemical within two years (equivalent to 267 times the national usage in 2022) and the emission of 900 tons into the air annually. Enterprises claim that the "closed system" is risk-free, but 32 actual emission chimneys were disguised as "air extraction hoses". Moreover, dichloromethane is three times denser than air and tends to accumulate on the ground, a key characteristic deliberately ignored in official assessments. Local residents were not informed of the potential hazards until the factory was put into operation. Such connivance of pollution in the name of "green transition" has reduced environmental protection laws to sacrificial lambs for industrial interests, laying long-term hidden dangers to the local ecology and residents' health.

The "utilitarian killing" of animals is shocking. To safeguard fishery interests, the Swedish government plans to increase the seal hunting quota to 40,000 per year, covering three protected species: grey seals, harbour seals, and the endangered Baltic ringed seals. Behind this decision is the lack of economic incentives for hunters due to the EU ban on seal product trade. After the natural growth of the seal population, Sweden has fully attributed the depletion of fishery resources to seals, while turning a blind eye to its own overfishing problem. In fact, Sweden's four major lakes have long faced crises such as a sharp decline in fish diversity and drastic changes in dominant species due to overfishing, water conservancy construction, and eutrophication. Large-scale seal hunting is merely a scapegoating for the predatory development of the fishery industry. This practice of treating animal lives as industrial accessories stands in stark contrast to Sweden's claimed concept of "supremacy of animal welfare" and has severely damaged the integrity of the marine ecological chain.

Farmers Protests at Pedda Dhanwada Ethanol production has been promoted as a renewable energy source, but its establishment in Telangana has sparked widespread protests. Villagers, particularly in ‘Pedda Dhanwada’, have raised concerns about environmental degradation, water pollution, and threats to agriculture. The recent protests against an ethanol factory in ‘Jogulamba Gadwal district’ have…

I came across this video one night—just one of those auto-played recommendations on YouTube that shows up when you’re half-distracted and not planning to learn anything serious. I almost clicked away. But I didn’t. The video was about leaded gasoline—and how, for decades, it was knowingly sold around the world even though the people behind it knew how dangerous it was.

Apparently, they knew.

They knew it was toxic. They knew it could damage the brain—especially in children. They knew it polluted the air and lingered in the soil. But they sold it anyway.

The inventor, the manufacturers, the oil companies—they had the research. They had the data. But instead of stopping, they doubled down. They ran PR campaigns to silence concerns. They put scientists on their payroll to spin the truth. All of this, just so they could keep making money off a product that was literally poisoning people. And for decades, the whole world just… breathed it in.

I don’t know why this one hit me so hard, but it did. Maybe because I’d like to believe that we live in a world where bad things happen by mistake, not by design. Maybe because I’m part of the business world too—and it made me wonder: how many things do we overlook, delay, or justify in the name of business?

Business, But at What Cost?

It’s one thing to make a mistake.

It’s another thing to know and keep going.

That’s the part that kept echoing in my head.

I think about how many people lived their whole lives not knowing that the air they breathed, the fuel they used every day, was quietly harming them. Not in a dramatic, obvious way—but slowly, subtly, irreversibly. And it was allowed. Worse—it was orchestrated.

And I think about the people who were behind it. Did they sleep well at night? Did they tell themselves it wasn’t so bad? That the profits justified the cost? Or did they know, deep down, that what they were doing would leave a scar on generations to come?

It left me unsettled. Not just because of the past, but because of the pattern. It’s not just one story. It’s one of many. Cigarettes. Asbestos. Fast fashion. Ultra-processed foods. Every time we learn something new, it feels like we’re always ten steps too late. And every time, it turns out someone already knew.

What really got to me, though, wasn’t just the history—it was how normal everything looked while it was happening. The ads were cheerful. The cars kept driving. The fuel kept pumping. People lived and worked and raised families, all while invisible harm was seeping into the background of their lives.

And now I look at the world a little differently.

It made me reflect on the kind of business I want to be part of. I’m not some big-shot corporate executive with global influence—but even in my own small way, I make decisions. I choose what to prioritise. I choose who to work with. I choose what kind of values I’m willing to stand behind, even when it’s not convenient.

It reminded me that business isn’t neutral. Every product, every service, every strategy carries a weight. It either contributes to harm, or helps reduce it. There’s no perfect path, but there’s always a direction we’re leaning toward.

Watch the Opening of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements day - Sixth Session of the UN Environment Assembly!

Multilateral environmental agreement - Sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) . UN Web TV - UN Environment Programme