Welfare within planetary boundaries in the Nordics: can sufficiency pave the path forward for sustainable policy and practice?

Introduction: (Un)sustainable welfare in the NordicsConfining consumption to within planetary boundaries is one of the greatest challenges facing today's society.This concerns mitigating detrimental impacts of consumption on ecological systems as well as staving off potential consequences, the scale of which the future will reveal.Technological developments will not alone solve the climate, biodiversity, or resource crises.Therefore, societies must transform current ways and scales of consuming to ensure operation within planetary boundaries (Rockström et al, 2009;Richardson et al, 2023).Simultaneously, societies need to deal with social issues such as unequal opportunities for people to meet their basic needs (Gough, 2015) and the welfare of future generations.This special issue of Consumption and Society emanates from the dilemma of ensuring societal welfare while staying within planetary boundaries in the Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.These countries are actively facing the challenges of allocating welfare fairly, while achieving the targets of carbon neutrality and ecological stability, making an excellent case for exploring