Climate and environmental assessment

The election manifesto establishes that all political decisions need to take the acute climate crisis into account and that strengthened governance based on sharpened climate goals is needed. The party programme requires powerful legislation and economic policy instruments to master environmental threats and makes long-term environmental considerations paramount. Climate-securing the Environmental Code with stop rules against high greenhouse gas emissions and time-limited permits for activities with major climate impact is a direct application of these commitments.

• climate consideration in all decisionsdecisive»Omställningen behöver ske omgående och alla politiska beslut behöver ta hänsyn till den akuta kris som vi befinner oss i.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The transition needs to happen immediately and all political decisions need to take the acute crisis we are in into account.”
• strengthened governance towards climate goals»Investeringar i grön teknik, industri och infrastruktur, utbyggd energikapacitet och stärkt styrning utifrån nya, skärpta klimatmål behövs.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Investments in green technology, industry and infrastructure, expanded energy capacity and strengthened governance based on new, sharpened climate goals are needed.”
• strong environmental legislation»Därför behövs en kraftfull lagstiftning, ekonomiska styrmedel, långsiktig samhällsplanering, klimatinvesteringar« (party programme ↗)“Therefore, strong legislation, economic policy instruments, long-term societal planning, climate investments”
• environmental consideration paramount»de långsiktiga miljöhänsynen måste vara överordnade« (party programme ↗)“long-term environmental considerations must be paramount”

The election manifesto establishes that the climate policy framework shall remain in place and that Sweden by 2045 shall have no net emissions, and thereafter reach negative emissions. The party programme requires that environmental consideration is built into production processes from the start and points to legislation as one of environmental policy's most important instruments. That climate-proofing the Environmental Code with stop rules and time-limited permits therefore follows from the plan.

• the climate framework remains in placedecisive»Det klimatpolitiska ramverket ska ligga fast.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The climate policy framework shall remain in place.”
• net zero target 2045»År 2045 ska Sverige inte ha några nettoutsläpp av växthusgaser till atmosfären, för att därefter uppnå negativa utsläpp.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“By 2045, Sweden shall have no net emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and thereafter achieve negative emissions.”
• environmental consideration in production»Hänsynen till miljöns krav ska byggas in i produktionsprocesserna redan från början.« (party programme ↗)“Consideration for the environment's requirements should be built into production processes from the start.”
• legislation as climate instrument»forskningssatsningar, lagstiftning och olika ekonomiska styrmedel är de viktigaste« (party programme ↗)“research investment, legislation and various economic instruments are the most important”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme requires a climate policy framework with binding ceilings for climate impact and that climate goals should guide investments, and the election manifesto wants an emissions budget and a transition law that forces industry to phase out fossil fuels by 2030. Climate-securing the Environmental Code with stop rules against high greenhouse gas emissions and time-limited permits for activities with large climate impact are precisely such binding limits. The plan thus prioritizes climate governance over only streamlined processes.

• binding ceilings for climate impactdecisive»För att klara klimatmålen krävs ett klimatpolitiskt ramverk med bindande tak för vår klimatpåverkan såväl i Sverige som internationellt.« (party programme ↗)“To achieve climate goals, a climate policy framework with binding ceilings for our climate impact is required both in Sweden and internationally.”
• transition law for industry»införa en omställningslag så att all industri fasar ut kol, olja och fossilgas till senast 2030.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“introduce a transition law so that all industry phases out coal, oil and fossil gas by no later than 2030.”
• emissions budget»ta fram en svensk utsläppsbudget som gör att vi når klimatmålen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“draw up a Swedish emissions budget so that we reach climate goals.”
• climate goals guide investments»Klimatskadliga subventioner ska fasas ut och klimatmålen ska styra investeringarna i infrastruktur.« (party programme ↗)“Climate-damaging subsidies should be phased out and climate goals should guide investments in infrastructure.”

The plan wants to halve permit times and reform the Environmental Code so that a project's climate benefit is given greater weight, that is, to make the assessment faster and more predictable. Freeze rules and time-limited permits make the assessment instead heavier and more uncertain for investments. The plan's climate tools are pricing of emissions and effective measures over symbolic politics.

• faster review, climate benefit weighsdecisive»Klimatet kan inte vänta på dyra och krångliga regelverk. Det är dags att halvera tiden det tar att få tillstånd för gröna investeringar och reformera miljöbalken så att ett projekts klimatnytta ges större vikt i miljöprövningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The climate cannot wait for expensive and complicated regulations. It is time to halve the time it takes to get permission for green investments and to reform the Environmental Code so that a project's climate benefit is given greater weight in environmental review.”
• pricing over prohibition»Ytterst är lösningen i klimatfrågan att få till stånd en global prissättning på koldioxid« (party programme ↗)“Ultimately, the solution to the climate issue is to achieve global pricing of carbon dioxide”
• effective measures over symbolic politics»Ett ledarskap som prioriterar effektiva åtgärder framför symbolpolitik eller passivitet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Leadership that prioritizes effective measures over symbolic politics or passivity.”
• polluter pays»Det ska kosta mer att smutsa ner.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It should cost more to pollute.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme points to general and technology-neutral economic instruments such as carbon tax and emissions trading as the most effective tool, and the election manifesto wants real climate taxes instead of symbolic politics. Stop rules in environmental law and time-limited permits are instead administrative detailed control that delays the permit processes that the plan wants to simplify. According to the plan, climate goals should be achieved within the framework of a growing economy.

• general technology-neutral instrumentsdecisive»Generella och teknikneutrala ekonomiska styrmedel, såsom koldioxidskatt och« (party programme ↗)“General and technology-neutral economic instruments, such as carbon tax and”
• price control over symbolic politics»Därför är vi för riktiga klimatskatter i stället för att göra klimatpolitiken till en tävling i högst bidrag och flest symbolskatter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“That is why we are in favor of real climate taxes instead of turning climate policy into a competition for the highest subsidies and most symbolic taxes.”
• modernize the frameworks»I stället vill vi möjliggöra fler nya reaktorer på fler ställen, möjliggöra återstart av Ringhals 1 och 2, se till att statliga lånegarantier omfattar kärnkraften, modernisera regelverken och ge kärnkraften betalt för att den alltid finns tillgänglig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Instead, we want to enable more new reactors in more places, enable the restart of Ringhals 1 and 2, ensure that state loan guarantees cover nuclear power, modernize the frameworks, and pay nuclear power for always being available.”
• climate goals in growing economy»Vi ska nå klimatmålen – inga nettoutsläpp av växthusgaser senast 2045 och därefter negativa utsläpp – inom ramen för en växande ekonomi.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We shall achieve the climate goals – net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest and thereafter negative emissions – within the framework of a growing economy.”

The plan requires strong measures to halt emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and explicitly counts legislation with prohibitions and limit values among the instruments to be used, which supports stop rules in licensing review. That fossil fuels shall be phased out also supports that operations with major climate impact are reviewed more stringently. The plan's requirement for long-term rules for enterprises speaks against time-limited permits.

• strong measures against greenhouse gasesdecisive»För att motverka klimatförändring krävs krafttag för« (party programme ↗)“To prevent climate change, strong measures are required for”
• prohibitions and limit values as instruments»Lagstiftning med förbud och gränsvärden, en ekologiskt« (party programme ↗)“Legislation with prohibitions and limit values, an ecologically”
• phase-out of fossil fuels»Fossilbränslena måste fasas ut från såväl energi- som« (party programme ↗)“Fossil fuels must be phased out from both energy and”
• long-term rules for enterprises»Det är viktigt att de regler staten ställer upp för« (party programme ↗)“It is important that the rules the state sets for”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan explicitly promises that newly built nuclear power should have the right to operate and produce electricity for its entire technical lifetime, which is incompatible with time-limited permits for operations with large climate impact. The plan's line in permitting is to shorten and simplify processes for industries undergoing transition and set a final deadline for processing, not to introduce new blocking rules. The party programme also warns against climate policy that becomes expensive symbolic politics.

• no time-limited permitsdecisive»Ge nybyggd kärnkraft rätten till drift och elproduktion under hela sin tekniska livslängd« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give newly built nuclear power the right to operate and produce electricity for its entire technical lifetime”
• simpler permitting»Utöver det vill vi förkorta och förenkla tillståndsprocesser för industrier som satsar på omställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Beyond that we want to shorten and simplify permitting processes for industries investing in transition”
• faster permitting»Korta myndigheternas handläggningstider genom en bortre tidsgräns« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Shorten authorities' processing times through a final deadline”
• effective, not symbolic climate policy»Klimatpolitiken får aldrig reduceras till dyrbar symbolpolitik« (party programme ↗)“Climate policy must never be reduced to expensive symbolic politics”

The plan warns that stricter Swedish environmental and emission requirements than those in the rest of the world threaten Swedish industries and become globally counterproductive, and wants to stop symbolic politics that obstructs industry and business. Stop rules against greenhouse gas emissions and time-limited permits in environmental assessment are precisely such special requirements. The plan instead requires more efficient and more predictable permit processes and that climate targets remain in line with the EU.

• against Swedish special requirementsdecisive»Strängare miljö- och utsläppskrav i Sverige jämfört med i omvärlden riskerar ofta att slå ut svenska näringar och få globalt kontraproduktiva resultat när det kommer till de mål kraven syftar till att uppnå.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stricter environmental and emission requirements in Sweden compared with the rest of the world risk often eliminating Swedish industries and producing globally counterproductive results in regard to the goals the requirements aim to achieve.”
• against symbolic politics»Stoppa symbolpolitik som går ut över möjligheten att bedriva industri och näring« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop symbolic politics that is detrimental to the ability to conduct industry and business”
• predictable permit assessment»Effektivisera och öka förutsägbarheten i tillståndsprocesserna för gruvnäring, elnätsutbyggnad och industri« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Make permit processes more efficient and more predictable for mining, electricity grid expansion and industry”
• climate targets aligned with the EU»De svenska klimatmålen bör anpassas till den klimatlagstiftning som finns på EU-nivå för att inte kraven på andra länder ska bli lägre som en konsekvens av att vi gör mer än nödvändigt på bekostnad av vår levnadsstandard och konkurrenskraft.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish climate targets should be aligned with the climate legislation existing at EU level so that requirements on other countries do not become lower as a consequence of our doing more than necessary at the cost of our living standards and competitiveness.”