Sweden off-track to meet climate goals: expert agency
by AFP Staff Writers
Stockholm (AFP) Mar 21, 2024

Sweden's climate policy is leading to short-term emissions increases and knocking it off-course from its 2030 reduction target, according to a report by a council reviewing government policy released Thursday.

The coalition government -- headed by conservative Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party and propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats -- took decisions in 2023 that will increase emissions in 2024, the Swedish Climate Policy Council said.

"Policy adopted in 2023 will increase emissions and does not lead towards the fulfilment of Sweden's climate goals and EU commitments by 2030," said the report by the council, set up by the previous government in 2018.

The council said that in particular measures announced in the budget presented in September, such as a reduced fuel tax, put climate ambitions at risk.

But it also lamented a lack of concrete measures in the government's "climate policy action plan", a roadmap that the government is required by law to present every four years.

The council's chair Asa Persson said the government was passing the buck for meeting Sweden's climate targets and EU commitments by 2030 on to the government that will be in power after the next Swedish general election in 2026.

- Emissions recommendations -

The report was handed over to Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari, who told reporters she would "analyse its contents."

"I'm not particularly worried about some of the assessments made at this point. They are based on the government's policy announcements during 2023, and there are several measures that have been added since then," Pourmokhtari said, adding that she was confident several of the issues raised had already been addressed.

The report also put forward recommendations to the government, such as measures to reduce emissions from the transport sector, that plans be drawn up to increase carbon dioxide uptake by forests and land, as well as outlining a strategy for carbon neutral agriculture.

Often considered a leader on climate issues, Sweden has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, ahead of the 2050 target set for the European Union.

But even this target now seems out of reach, argues Bjorn Sanden, vice-president of the agency.

"We have examined the government's action plan and concluded that the claim that it creates the conditions for achieving net zero emissions by 2045 is misleading and lacks objectivity," he told a press briefing.

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