The Task: Align Swedish Climate Goals More with the EU

Stockholm – The Swedish government (consisting of the Moderates, Christian Democrats, Liberals) and its cooperating party the Sweden Democrats want to review Sweden’s climate goals for 2030. The aim is for them to be more aligned with EU legislation.

“There is no room for lowering ambition,” says Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari.

The task goes to the Environmental Objectives Committee, which includes all parties in the Swedish parliament. The committee simultaneously gets a new chairman – the Moderate Party’s Stockholm politician Christofer Fjellner, who was previously a member of the European Parliament.

“It is important that the stages lead us in the right direction towards our goals – and do not slow down the pace or cause a detour there. It is high time that we now conduct such an analysis in light of the new climate targets we have received at the EU level,” says Romina Pourmokhtari.

The government’s investigator suggested as early as autumn 2023 that the Environmental Objectives Committee should be tasked with updating the goals so that they better align with EU legislation.

There has been particularly much discussion regarding the goal to reduce emissions from transport by 70 percent by 2030, compared to 2010. The Environmental Objectives Committee will now review this goal.

Reducing emissions from transport is one of the biggest challenges. The government’s assessment is that “the solution is more electrification.”

The overarching climate goal for 2045 is not included in the review. It states that Sweden should have no net emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2045 at the latest.

(January 23)