Environment and climate

Sweden will host World Environment Day on 5 June 2022 in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The theme – ‘Only One Earth’ – will highlight the possibilities for shifting to more sustainable, greener lifestyles.

The UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has ended. The main successes of the conference were that countries were encouraged to sharpen their climate goals as early as next year, double support for adaptation to climate change by 2025 and that the role of fossil fuels in climate transition was mentioned for the first time.

The Nordic environment and climate ministers met on 3 November in Copenhagen to discuss how they can work together to push for an ambitious outcome from the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Issues concerning a global agreement on plastics and the plans for the Stockholm+50 conference are also on the agenda.

Next year, Sweden will host Stockholm+50, a UN conference that aims to help accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Sweden today launched an initiative to strengthen young people’s participation in the work ahead of and during Stockholm+50.

The second week of UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is currently in progress. Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth is in attendance together with transport ministers from around the world and other international actors. Sweden is taking part in a number of global initiatives to pick up the pace in the transition to emissions-free transport.

At the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Sweden held a high-level meeting in the global Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT). Sweden and India jointly launched LeadIT in 2019 to push for climate transition in heavy industry. Group members at the meeting agreed to focus on implementation of national roadmaps and strategies for the industrial sector’s transition to zero emissions.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is being held in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November. The world’s countries are gathered there to negotiate global climate action under the Paris Agreement. They will negotiate on issues such as rules on emissions trading and how countries should report their emissions. The conference will also focus on how the countries’ climate commitments measure up to the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

Speech by Minister for the Environment and Climate Per Bolund at the UN event Delivering Climate Action: for People, Planet, and Prosperity. The speech was given in English and the spoken word applies.

As the EU heads of state and government meet in the European Council in Brussels, the agenda includes the COVID-19 vaccine situation and how the EU can advance digital transformation. The high energy prices in many Member States will also be discussed. At Sweden’s initiative, the leaders will hold a strategic discussion on trade issues.

The world is in an acute climate crisis. The world’s poorest are the least to blame but are the hardest hit. The richer countries have a special responsibility to contribute to the developing countries’ climate transition. The Government therefore intends to double Swedish climate aid to SEK 15 billion by 2025.

This week, countries around the world will meet under the auspices of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to begin drafting a global framework on how to sustainably protect and make use of biodiversity. Minister for Environment and Climate Per Bolund will take part in the meeting digitally and will emphasise that Sweden wants protection for 30 per cent of the world’s land and oceans.

A preparatory ministerial meeting is being held ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) to discuss key aspects of the climate negotiations. Minister for Environment and Climate Per Bolund has been asked to lead the climate finance discussions.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde are travelling to New York for the opening of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 21 September 2021.

The Government has decided to allow a capacity increase of the interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, pending a repository for final disposal being constructed and put into operation. An intermediate decision on interim storage is necessary to safeguard the energy supply in the coming years.

On Wednesday, the European Commission presented ‘Fit for 55’, the EU’s new climate package. The package contains the Commission’s proposals for reducing emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. Minister for EU Affairs Hans Dahlgren welcomes the package, which represents a major and important step for the EU’s climate action.

This year’s theme for UN World Environment Day was ‘Ecosystem Restoration’. One Swedish example is the Government’s drive in recent years to restore wetlands. This has a positive impact on biodiversity and the capacity to bind carbon dioxide. Artic wetlands are at severe risk of destruction due to climate change.

Swedish Minister for Environment and Climate, Per Bolund, Minister for Gender Equality and Housing, Märta Stenevi, and Minister for Energy and Digital Development, Anders Ygeman, met with French Minister for Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, on her visit to Stockholm, to discuss joint efforts to enhance the green transition at national, European and global levels.

With a view to inspiring and influencing Swedish development policy, Minister for International Development Cooperation Per Olsson Fridh will launch an international advisory group for action on the environment, climate and biodiversity in connection with World Environment Day on 5 June. The advisory group will make an important contribution to fine-tuning Sweden’s global engagement in the most affected countries ahead of coming international high level meetings on climate, environment and biodiversity.

The government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party have agreed on supporting SAS to access liquidity equivalent to SEK 1.5 billion. This support from the Swedish State is subject to the European Commission’s approval of the measures and corresponding support from the Danish State.