In June 2017 the Swedish Parliament agreed upon a climate policy framework for Sweden. The framework encompasses new climate goals, a Climate Act and the Swedish Climate Policy Council.
The climate policy framework contains three parts:
- The long-term goals for Swedish climate policy
- A planning and follow-up system in which the Government reports to the Parliament on the progress of the transition
- The Swedish Climate Policy Council
Parts of the framework are regulated in a Climate Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2018. The Climate Policy Council was formed on that same day.
The Climate Policy Council is an independent, interdisciplinary expert body tasked with evaluating how well the Government’s overall policy is aligned with the climate goals established by the Parliament and the Government. The council’s remit underscores the broad nature of the climate issue. Our remit is not to examine any particular area that has been specifically defined as climate policy, but rather to examine the Government’s overall policies – in other words, all policy areas and how they are collectively aligned with the climate targets.
By 2045 Sweden shall have no net greenhouse gas emissions, and negative emissions thereafter.
Overall target
The overall climate target of the Swedish policy climate framework is net-zero greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere by 2045, followed by negative emissions. This target covers all emissions within Sweden’s borders – so-called territorial emissions. The goal does not include emissions from international transport (so-called international bunker fuels) or emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF).
The goal of net-zero emissions means that emissions should be reduced at least 85% by 2045 from 1990
levels. The remaining emissions may be offset by so-called supplementary measures. Examples of such measures are increased carbon sinks, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or investments in climate change mitigation projects in other countries. After 2045, the supplementary measures should exceed the remaining emissions in order to create “negative emissions”.
Interim targets
In addition to the overall goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045, Sweden has set interim targets. Under these targets, emissions that are not part of the trading system should be reduced by 40% by 2020, 63% by 2030 and 75% by 2040, compared with 1990 levels. Parts of the interim targets for 2030 and 2040 can be achieved by means of supplementary measures corresponding to a maximum of 8 and 2 percentage Points of the emission reduction targets for 2030 and 2040, respectively. The national 2030 goal is more ambitious than the binding target included in the EU regulation (Effort Shring Regulation, ESR). Finally, the Swedish climate framework contains a special target for reducing transport emissions by 70% by 2030 from 2010 levels.
