Latest news with #SwedishClimatePolicyCouncil
Local Sweden
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Climate activists continue fight to sue the Swedish state in court
Two months after the Supreme Court dismissed their case, climate activists including Greta Thunberg are planning to refile a lawsuit against the state of Sweden for alleged climate inaction. Advertisement Sweden's Supreme Court said in February the complaint filed against the state – brought by an individual, with 300 other people joining it as a class action lawsuit under the name Aurora – was inadmissible, noting the "very high requirements for individuals to have the right to bring such a claim" against a state. But it said that "an association that meets certain requirements may have the right to bring a climate lawsuit". Aurora has therefore asked the Nacka district court where it first filed the lawsuit to reconsider it by switching the plaintiff to an association. "If the court concludes that this is not possible, Aurora will sue the state again," it said in a statement. "One way or another, Aurora is continuing to bring the issue of the Swedish state's legal obligations in the climate crisis to Swedish courts." The first of its kind in the Scandinavian country, Aurora's lawsuit demanded that Sweden take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to within the limits of what is "technically and economically feasible". Both the Swedish Climate Policy Council and the Environmental Protection Agency have for the past year warned that the Swedish right-wing government's policies will lead to an increase in emissions, and said the country was not on track to meet its climate goals and EU commitments. Advertisement Swedish Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari has said she is "not particularly worried" by the reports. "If rich, high-emitting, resourceful powers like the Swedish state act immediately to fundamentally change our economic systems, we have a chance to get out of these planetary crises and build a sustainable and just world. We cannot let the state squander that chance," Aurora spokeswoman Ida Edling said. In a landmark April 2024 decision, Europe's top rights court, the European Court of Human Rights, ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, the first country ever to be condemned by an international tribunal for not taking sufficient action to curb global warming. In December 2019, the Dutch supreme court ordered the government to slash greenhouse gases by at least 25 percent by 2020 in another landmark case brought by an environmental group.
Local Sweden
21-03-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Swedish climate experts say 'emissions increased due to political decisions'
Emissions increased by 6.4 percent in the third quarter of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the Swedish statistics office (SCB). The increase, which it called a "one-off", was largely down to deliveries of fossil fuels, particularly diesel, to the country. "The average global temperature rose 1.5 degrees (Celsius) above the pre-industrial average for the first time last year," said Åsa Persson, chair of the Swedish Climate Policy Council. "And in Sweden, emissions increased due to political decisions," she added as she presented her report in Stockholm. One of the reasons was fuel tax relief, which was approved in September 2023 in the government budget backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) party. Persson said the trend needs to be reversed. Adjusting the so-called "reduction mandate" would have a short-term effect, she added. This requires fuel suppliers to mix a certain percentage of biofuels or other low-carbon alternatives into their product to reduce emissions. Adjusting taxes on gasoline and diesel would also help, she added. Advertisement Persson conceded that would lead to higher prices but added: "That's why we also suggest combining this measure with redistribution actions to support the most vulnerable groups, who have difficulty adopting alternatives to gasoline and diesel." Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari told the daily DN newspaper that she was not inclined to follow the recommendation. "No, the government will continue with the existing plan," she said, meaning a slight increase in the "reduction mandate" but less than recommended by the agency. Sweden has set a goal of 2045 to achieve net-zero carbon emissions – five years before the European Union – but the agency said the government still needed to strengthen its climate policy on several fronts. That includes adopting a package of measures for fossil-free transport, conducting an impact study on the various paths towards fossil-free electrification and continuing support of the industrial sector in the energy transition.
