Too many emissions, too low a share of renewable energy, too little absorption of carbon dioxide in the forest. According to the government’s own plan for energy and climate, Sweden will violate most important points in the EU’s climate legislation until 2030.
“That’s right, we have homework to do”, says Energy Minister Ebba Busch to SVT.
The EU has a series of climate goals where each member state must reduce emissions and make energy use more efficient. All for the EU to live up to the Paris Agreement. But in a new letter to the EU that SVT has seen, the government denies itself. Curves and forecasts indicate that Sweden will not live up to the EU directives.
-It’s a violation of the law! When the government receives criticism, it is usually claimed that the EU’s goals are paramount. Now they write that they will fail with four out of four EU goals”, says Mikael Karlsson, environmental researcher at Uppsala University.
It is about four main points:
- Swedish forests and land must increase the absorption of carbon dioxide by 8 million tonnes by 2030. This requires reduced felling of forests. That is not something the government is counting on. In the letter, it is calculated that the CO2 absorption from the forest will be between 7 and 19 million tonnes per year lower than the EU’s requirements.
- For emissions from transport, and the sector not covered by emissions trading, Sweden has so far met the EU’s targets by a margin. But this year, emissions are increasing significantly due to reduced reduction obligations. Sweden is now expected to release more than the EU’s requirements until 2030, when the target is missed by four million tonnes.
- Share of renewable energy. Here, Sweden is already somewhat best in class, but the EU wants all countries to also increase their share by 2030. There are no binding targets here, but Sweden cannot meet the level formulated by the EU.
- Energy efficiency improvement. Sweden looks set to miss the target by 2030 significantly. But the government thinks the EU should take more into account that Sweden needs a lot of new energy for green investments.
The government receives criticism
Mikael Karlsson believes that Sweden, which was previously seen as a leading country, has now become a brake block in the EU, which can affect other countries.
-It is disrespectful to democracy. It is about binding EU legislation, which Sweden voted yes to. Then you just ignore this. If we do not meet the targets, how should we request that other EU countries, or China and the US take their responsibility towards the Paris Agreement?
Admit misses
Ebba Busch states for the first time that the goals will not be reached and says that it depends on conscious decisions.
-It is true that we do not seem to be able to meet the goals. For example, that we have chosen to reduce the mixing of biofuels in fuels. We have homework to do, but we must continue to fight for a realistic way to reach the EU’s goals.”
