Sweden backs EU climate line for Paris
Sweden’s minister for the Environment Åsa Romson joined EU environmental ministers in Brussels last week ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.
The EU’s line at the meeting will be a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gases over the next 15 years. It is not a goal, which if adopted universally, would restrict global warming to the crucial two degrees of global increase that climate scientists say would produce undesirable but more predictable changes in the biosphere.
Dialing back demands
Sweden has previously demanded stronger measures, but it is now supporting the EU’s line.
“The EU’s goal for 2030 is at least a 40 percent reduction. Seen internationally, that’s ambitious. But seen from the perspective of science, the EU, like other countries, will have to increase its future climate work. We know that,” said Romson to Swedish Radio.
Domestic targets
This week as part of its fall budget stump, the government announced that it would spend SEK 4.5 billion for its own climate work. The government has set a goal to reduce the country’s domestic greenhouse gases by 40 percent before 2020.
Related stories from around the North:
Asia: Asia ahead on preparing for polar climate change, says U.S. Arctic rep, Eye on the Arctic
Germany: Will Paris conference help the Arctic, Deutsche Welle Iceblogger
Iceland: Acid Arctic Ocean and Russell Brand?, by Deutsche Welle’s Iceblogger
Norway: Emissions speeding up Arctic Ocean acidification, Alaska Dispatch
Russia: Arctic mega-polluter pays record high dividends, Barents Observer
Sweden: Business and environmentalists unite in Sweden, Radio Sweden
United States: What Obama’s Arctic visit might mean for Paris, Eye on the Arctic
