Transport and infrastructure

Slovenia has been hit by torrential rainfall this month, with downpours destroying a number of bridges. The Swedish Government has therefore decided that the Swedish Transport Administration will donate three temporary bridges to Slovenia.

Sweden is running for a seat on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council. The Council is the IMO’s executive body comprising 40 members. The candidacy is for the 2024–2025 term.

On 27–28 February, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch and Minister for Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson will host an informal meeting of EU ministers in Stockholm. On the agenda are discussions on the future of energy and transport in the EU.

The lifting of exit restrictions from China, combined with the increased and widespread spread of COVID-19 in the country, has raised the question of introducing entry restrictions, including in Europe. Sweden is now preparing to introduce certain such restrictions requiring a negative COVID-19 test. Travellers from China need to be prepared for decisions being taken at short notice.

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region from 1 July until 30 June 2023.

Sweden’s target is net zero emissions by 2045, at the latest, and negative emissions thereafter. The net zero target means that, in principle, greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector need to be zero by 2045. Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector account for about one-third of emissions in Sweden, and road transport is the main source of these emissions.

To further accelerate the electrification of the transport sector, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) was commissioned by the Government to help build knowledge in this area. This need has been clearly highlighted in the work of the Government’s strategic innovation partnership programme Climate neutral industry.

The Chairman’s conclusions, called the “Stockholm Declaration”, was presented as the outcome document of the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety 2020.

The Barents cooperation has laid the foundation for far-reaching people-to-people cooperation and high-level political dialogue in the European Arctic. The 25th anniversary of cooperation was marked by a seminar at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the European Union on 5 June to highlight cooperation in an EU perspective and to look ahead.

Total investments in the area of environment and climate for 2018 amount to SEK 5 billion, allocated to several different expenditure areas. Minister for the Environment Karolina Skog is proud that Sweden has once again presented a budget with a clear environmental profile.

Martin Lundstedt has been President and CEO of the Volvo Group since 2015. He holds an MSc in Engineering and has previously served as CEO of Scania. Since the beginning of this year, he has also been a member of the National Innovation Council. He is passionate about continuously improving and developing businesses and creating system solutions.

The Government is launching five innovation partnership programmes to help meet a range of the societal challenges that Sweden is facing. These programmes involve new ways of travelling, residing, doing business, living, communicating, and using and preserving the world’s resources and ecosystems. Partnership between public actors, business and academia creates new, innovative solutions that strengthen competitiveness, contribute to sustainable development and create more jobs.