Sweden 'ready' to drive global climate talks[fr][de] 

"As the country holding the presidency, Sweden will press for other industrialised countries and fast-growing economies to do their part," Carlgren stated last week when he presented Sweden's environmental priorities to the other 26 EU environment ministers.

"Unless they also make an effort, we will not get a strong enough agreement on the climate in Copenhagen," he stressed.

Sweden will press EU nations to scale up its emissions goals for 2020 from a 20% reduction to 30%, he said, but will attach certain conditions to this in order to get the rest of the global community to do their bit. 

"We cannot let go of this lever, and move from 20 to 30%, until we get sufficient commitments and measures from the rest of the world," he told his European colleagues.

Carlgren also warned that if the global community cannot agree on ambitious targets to curb emissions, then rich countries will be pressed to provide more funding for adaptation actions. 

EU leaders have shied away from spelling out the sums that they would be ready to contribute, arguing that it is too early to make commitments when the US position is still unclear. They promised that all funding decisions would be taken at an October summit of EU leaders (EurActiv 25/06/09).

The Swedish environment minister stressed that the presidency would be prepared to call for extraordinary meetings, allaying fears that the EU would run out of time as decisions on make-or-break issues drag on.

Sweden will now step up dialogue with all major actors at upcoming meetings of the G8, G20 and Major Economies Forum, while also pushing the climate issue at all third-party summits, Carlgren said.

Linked issues at EU level

In line with an overarching climate policy, the Swedish Presidency has also indicated that it will drive the shift to an 'eco-efficient economy'. It wants the EU to view the economic crisis as an opportunity to step up climate efforts while creating new growth in environmental technology, renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable urban development.

Halting biodiversity loss will also be on the climate agenda, as it enables land and biomass to bind more CO2, Sweden said.

High expectations

Expectations on the Swedish Presidency are sky-high on climate change. The country last held the EU presidency in spring 2001 during the last leg of negotiations enabling the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. 

When the Bush administration withdrew from the global negotiations, Sweden toured world capitals arguing that there was no alternative to the protocol. The EU was consequently hailed as the saviour of the treaty by winning over key countries like Japan and Russia.

Environmentalists are now heavily lobbying the presidency to help conclude an agreement capable of keeping global warming below two degrees. 

A large group of NGOs today launched a campaign in Stockholm to press Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to design a roadmap for the EU in the run-up to Copenhagen. Green and development groups want to see the EU reassert its position as the first mover in negotiations, and are calling on the presidency to convene an extraordinary meeting of EU heads of state and government before the UN climate summit in September to reach agreement on Europe's finance offer.

Oxfam International said Sweden must secure a leading position for the EU. "The test for the Swedish EU Presidency will be whether it translates its good domestic record on both environment and development into real leadership in the EU," said Oxfam International campaigner Frida Eklund. 

Action Aid urged Sweden to abandon neutrality and stand up for the EU's climate agenda. "Sweden must push for rich countries to take responsibility for our climate debt and ensure that those affected the worst, poor and vulnerable women in developing countries, do not bear the burden of climate change," said ActionAid campaigner Karin Wall Härdfeldt. 

Greenpeace called on the presidency to match rhetoric with action. "So far Reinfeldt has shown no political will to put forward sufficient targets on emission cuts. We also have not seen a credible offer on adaptation financing and how the government is going to protect the rainforest in developing countries," said Greenpeace head of campaigns, Patrik Eriksson. 

WWF pointed out that 2009 is a crucial year for climate. "Sweden has been preparing this presidency for years. The next six months will decide how it is remembered for generations to come," said WWF head of climate issues Stefan Henningsson.

BirdLife International congratulated Sweden for being at the forefront of European environmental policy. "We really hope that this Presidency will lead the way out of the current crisis, by showing how inseparably linked economic and environmental problems are. There is no bail-out for the planet, we have to act now and finally take sustainability seriously," said Konstantin Kreiser, EU policy manager at BirdLife International European division.