Ulf Kristersson Faces Criticism for Sweden's Largest Emissions Increase in 15 Years

Today, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency released statistics on Sweden's emissions for 2024, revealing the largest increase in 15 years. It should be clear to everyone, including the Prime Minister himself, that he and his government have lost control over Sweden's climate efforts.

DEBATE. Politics matter. Instead of helping Swedish households and businesses transition, the government has further entrenched us in fossil dependency.

Kristersson's government has so far reduced taxes on fossil fuels by a staggering 18 billion kronor, withdrawn support for electrification, slowed the expansion of electricity production, and increased the fossil content in Swedish fuels by lowering the reduction obligation.

The government has consistently invested more in measures that actively counteract climate transition than in those that promote it.

The government's ineffective and delaying climate policy is not an opinion, as Kristersson often tries to suggest, but a fact.

The shift in Sweden's climate policy has been criticized by the OECD, the Fiscal Policy Council, the Climate Policy Council, and the EU Commission. In the CCPI's international ranking comparing 64 countries' climate efforts, Sweden has plummeted from a previous top position (second best in 2021) to 41st in the climate policy category.

The government's policy is ineffective and harms competitiveness.

Ulf Kristersson claims that the government focuses on the long-term goal of net zero by 2045, prioritizes cost-effectiveness and competitiveness, and pursues a policy with popular support. All of this is utter nonsense:

Sweden's journey towards net zero by 2045 has stalled. Every year, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency forecasts Sweden's emissions for 2045 and the gap to the climate target. During the Green Party's time in government, the estimated gap to the 2045 target shrank significantly.

Since the Tidö government took office, the pace of transition has slowed. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency now shows that the estimated gap has completely stopped shrinking.

The government's policy is ineffective and harms competitiveness. Both the Fiscal Policy Council and the Climate Policy Council have criticized the government's policy for increasing the cost of transition for households and businesses.

Losing the Lead

Regarding competitiveness, Sweden is losing its previous lead in the green industrial transition. Several industrial investments in green fuels and electrification have been scrapped or postponed during the mandate period. The political signal that fossil fuels will become cheaper and that new electricity production will only come in 10-15 years (via new nuclear power) has been extremely damaging.

There is no popular support for the government's climate policy. Several surveys show that the Swedish public lacks confidence in the government's climate policy. Climate policy is the issue where the government receives the lowest ratings from voters. At the same time, numerous studies show that a large majority of the Swedish public is concerned about climate change (85 percent according to the SOM Institute 2023, 70 percent according to the Climate Barometer 2024, 66 percent according to Sifo 2024, and 77 percent according to Fairtrans 2024).

Sweden has everything to gain from a rapid and fair climate transition, but the government is instead hindering Swedish households and businesses that want to transition. They are wasting an enormous opportunity for our country and shifting the responsibility to those who come after.

Ulf Kristersson campaigned on getting climate issues in order. The results now show that he has failed spectacularly. When will Kristersson admit that he has lost control?

Amanda Lind (MP)

Spokesperson

Daniel Helldén (MP)

Spokesperson

Katarina Luhr (MP)

Member of Parliament and Climate Policy Spokesperson