Sweden, once climate leader, Ax’s environment department
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson attends the EU leaders meeting in Brussels, Belgium on October 20, 2022. Dursun Aydemir / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Why you can trust us
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental magazine, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality science-based content on environmental issues, causes and solutions.
Sweden has been considered a leader in climate questions, but that status is in danger with a new right-wing government.
On Tuesday, the same day he took office, the country’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson moved to shut down the environment ministry. The country will still have a climate and environment minister but she will work under the energy, food and industry minister.
– It is not possible to describe more clearly how little this government values the environment and the climate, say the greens Per Bolund said, as Euronews reported. “This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues.”
Sweden has a reputation as a relatively green country. It was one of the first in the world to establish an environmental protection agency in 1967, although it did not have an independent environment ministry until 20 years later. It was also the first country to tax charcoal and gets more than half of its energy from renewable sources, Green Matters pointed out. Furthermore, it was ranked first after Denmark by Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
But none of that means it can afford to fall back. The CCPI noted that even its top-ranked countries do not have plans in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which is why it left the top three spots on its index empty.
“Even if all countries were as committed as current predecessors, it would still not be enough to prevent dangerous climate change,” the group said.
However, Sweden can now cease to be a forerunner. In September’s election, a coalition of right wing the parties won a narrow majority of 176 out of 349 seats in the country’s parliament, as The New York Times reported at the time. The victory was made possible by rising support for the far-right Sweden Democrats, who in recent years have tried to distance themselves from their Nazi roots. The party is anti-immigrant and opposes Sweden’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, according to Bloomberg.
Kristersson, who leads Moderating, said on October 14 that he would form a three-party minority government with the support of the Sweden Democrats, as Reuters reported at the time. Then, on Tuesday, he announced his new cabinet with 26-year-old Liberal MP Romina Pourmokhtari as climate and environment minister under Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch as energy, business and industry minister, Euronews reported.
– It is regrettable, but I am not surprised, because the government’s plans indicate a dismantling of environmental policy, says Uppsala University researcher Mikael Karlsson to Dagens Nyheter, according to Bloomberg News. “Their subsidies of high consumption of electricity and fossil fuels go against the foundations of environmental policy that has existed for the last 50 years.”
The new government has promised to follow Sweden’s national and international climate commitments, according to Euronews. It is planned to do this partly by strengthening nuclear power both by making it more difficult to decommission old plants and by financing new ones. It also promised to expand the charging network for electric vehicles.
But other plans would see it reduce the amount of biofuels that need to be blended with gas to lower gas prices, Bloomberg reported. This could make it more difficult to reach the goal of reducing emissions from transport by 70 percent by 2030.
Sweden is the latest example of how the emergence of populist right parties have been shown to be detrimental to climate action. A study in April found that the influence of these types of parties can reduce a nation’s climate policy score by nearly 25 percent.
Subscribe to receive exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!
By registering, you agree Terms and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing campaigns, advertisements and sponsored content.