Swedish Emissions Dip In 2023 Amid Climate Policy Concerns June 20, 2024

Photo of a Swedish lake by Jonathan Petersson

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Swedish Emissions Dip In 2023 Amid Climate Policy Concerns

Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions will fall by 2% in 2023, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday, amid concerns from experts that the government's climate policy will soon increase short-term emissions.

In March, an independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing climate policy said the government's plans would lead to short-term emissions increases in 2024 and take it off course from its 2030 reduction target.

In 2023, the Scandinavian country's emissions totaled 44.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent, a drop of around one ton compared to 2022, according to preliminary statistics, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement.

The two percent reduction was in line with the 1.6 percent drop announced by Statistics Sweden at the end of May.

The EPA said that the 2023 figure represented a 38 percent reduction compared to 1990.

The EPA attributed the year-on-year drop mainly to lower emissions from industry - especially the cement, iron, and steel industries, due to reduced production as a result of Sweden's economic recession - and from the electric and district heating sector, due to lower electricity prices.

"Emissions have continued to decline, mainly in the industrial sector and in electric and district heating, which are part of the EU emissions trading system," said Anna-Karin Nystrom, head of the EPA's climate targets division.

"The pace has slowed compared to the previous year when above all domestic transport and (fuel-based) work machines contributed to a sharp reduction."

In March, the expert panel, the Swedish Climate Policy Council, said in a report that "the policy adopted in 2023 will increase emissions and will not lead to the fulfillment of Sweden's climate goals and the EU's commitments by 2030".

The council said that various measures, such as the reduction in fuel tax, put climate ambitions at risk.

But it also lamented the lack of concrete measures in the government's "climate policy action plan", a roadmap that the government is required by law to present every four years.

Sweden's climate and environment minister, Romina Pourmokhtari, said she was "not particularly concerned" about the review's assessments.

"They are based on the government's policy announcements during 2023, and there are several measures that have been added since then," said Pourmokhtari.

po/yad