The EU’s cohesion policy: 155.7 million euros for a fair climate transition in Sweden – Regional Policy
Vice President of the European Green Business, Frans Carpenter’ssaid: – Sweden’s goal of being climate neutral five years ahead of the EU goal is really commendable. The faster we transition to climate neutrality, the better we can mitigate the effects of the climate crisis. The support from the Just Transition Fund agreed in this plan will help Sweden reach its goals in an inclusive and fair way, and offer new perspectives to workers in the country’s most industrial-heavy regions.”
Commissioner responsible for cohesion and reforms, Elisa Ferreirasaid: “Sweden’s industrial counties produce a significant part of the country’s greenhouse gases. With the adoption of the Just Transition Fund, we are helping Sweden to reduce emissions while protecting the local population against its negative economic and social consequences.”
The JTF support will help Swedish industry to transition to climate neutrality, while maintaining competitiveness and maintaining the economic level and employment level in the counties of Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Gotland. Since industrial emissions account for 32% of Sweden’s total emissions of greenhouse gases, the transformation of the steel, mineral and metal industries, the most important greenhouse gas emissions, will have an important socio-economic impact. The JTF will help mitigate this impact by investing in research and innovation and in reskilling and reskilling workers.
Due to the scale of the emissions challenge, the JTF will also support targeted investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in activities covered by the ETS, such as steel and cement production. These investments are essential to maintain jobs in these sectors and will ensure that emissions will be significantly reduced, in line with the requirements of the JTF Regulation.
Finally, EUR 9 million from the JTF will contribute to increased capacity on Gotland’s electricity grid. A strengthened electricity grid on Gotland and an increased share of renewable electricity production are prerequisites for the reconstruction of the cement plant in the county.
Background
JTF supports the territories most affected by the transition to a climate-neutral economy. The identification of these territories is specified in the Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTP) and it is carried out through a dialogue with the Commission in the framework of the negotiations on the Partnership Agreements 2021-2027 and the associated programmes. Developed in close consultation with local partners, the TJTPs set out the challenges in each territory, as well as the development needs and goals to be met by 2030. They also identify the types of operations planned along with specific governance mechanisms.
The approval of the TJTP opens the door to dedicated funding under the other two pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM): a Just Transition Scheme under InvestEU and a Public Sector Just Transition Loan Facility combining Commission grants with loans from the European Investment Bank.
The JTM is a key tool to ensure that the transition to a climate-neutral economy is fair and leaves no one behind. It provides targeted support to help mobilize around €55 billion across Europe over the period 2021-2027 in the most affected regions to alleviate the socio-economic impact of the transition.
The Commission approved the partnership agreement in Sweden in June 2022. The agreement includes significant investments – 30% of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – in measures that support a climate-smart economy and a sustainable environment.
except JTF programtwo ERDF programs linked to the partnership agreement are also approved: the regional program for the region North Central Sweden and that The Stockholm region’s program. The six other ERDF regional programmes, as well as the national ERDF programme, are expected to be adopted before the end of 2022.
At the request of the Swedish authorities, the Commission provided tailored technical expertise for the preparation of the TJTP in terms of advanced technical and regional knowledge. The support was provided by the technical support instrument under DG REFORM.