Are Sweden’s climate goals in line with the Paris Agreement?
This is an issue that has been debated recently in Sweden. Three researchers from Chalmers – Johannes Morfeldt, Christian Azar and Daniel Johansson – have in a new report come to the following conclusions:
- Sweden’s (territorial) emissions target is compatible with the 1.5 degree target, given that the global space for carbon dioxide emissions is evenly distributed per person and year.
- Sweden’s (territorial) emissions target is compatible with the 1.5-degree target, although we also take historical responsibility for our carbon dioxide emissions from sometime in the 1990s.
- If Sweden takes responsibility for emissions further back in time, we would need more ambitious goals (than the current ones).
Finally, researchers address the role of science in this debate. Science is central to calculating what global emission space is left to reach a certain temperature target. But science can not determine which distribution principle is right. How the remaining emission space is to be distributed between countries is basically an ethical and political issue and not an issue that science can decide.
Daniel JohanssonAssociate Professor, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology.