State financing of climate adaptation measures

The plan requires that redistribution from state to municipality and region increases and that costs are distributed solidaristically across the country, which directly supports the requirement for a long-term and predictable state grant to municipalities for climate adaptation. It also establishes that the state must increase its control over the infrastructure and resources the climate work requires, and describes the situation as a state of climate emergency. That the state identifies a national plan for larger climate adaptation projects follows from that.

• state redistribution to municipalitiesdecisive»Omfördelningen från stat till region och kommun måste öka och särskild hänsyn ska tas till de många kommuner och regioner som idag inte får ihop sin ekonomi samtidigt som de redan har bland landets högsta skatter totalt sett.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Redistribution from state to region and municipality must increase and special consideration shall be given to the many municipalities and regions that today cannot make ends meet while already having some of the country's highest total taxes.”
• state responsibility for climate work»Staten måste öka sin kontroll över infrastruktur och resurser som behövs för att genomföra klimatomställningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The state must increase its control over the infrastructure and resources needed to implement the climate transition.”
• solidaristic cost distribution»Inkomster och kostnader behöver fördelas solidariskt över landet.« (party programme ↗)“Incomes and costs need to be distributed solidaristically across the country.”
• state of climate emergency»Vi befinner oss i ett klimatnödläge.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We find ourselves in a state of climate emergency.”

The election manifesto explicitly commits to continue large investments so that municipalities can climate-adapt locally and to increase the state's grant to municipalities and regions. The counter-proposal's demand for a long-term and predictable state grant as well as a national plan for larger climate adaptation projects is the same thing in substance. The party programme's demand that Sweden shall be a leader in national climate policy points in the same direction.

• state financing of climate adaptationdecisive»Vi vill fortsätta de stora investeringarna så att kommunerna kan klimatanpassa lokalt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to continue large investments so that municipalities can climate-adapt locally.”
• increased state grants to municipalities»Vi vill fortsätta öka statens bidrag till kommuner och regioner.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to continue to increase the state's grant to municipalities and regions.”
• national climate ambition»vara en föregångare i den egna, nationella klimatpolitiken.« (party programme ↗)“be a leader in its own, national climate policy.”
• large climate-related damage costs»Skogsbränder hotar folks hem. Skyfall svämmar över stadskärnor och torka slår ut skördar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Forest fires threaten people's homes. Cloudbursts flood city centres and drought wipes out harvests.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The programme states that more extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and heat waves require climate adaptation to reduce society's vulnerability, and that resources must be invested to seriously start the work. The election manifesto promises investments in climate adaptation and that urban areas need protection against floods. A long-term and predictable government grant as well as a national plan for major climate adaptation projects are exactly the resource investment the plan requires, which is why the counter-proposal's demands are supported.

• resources for climate adaptationdecisive»Vi behöver samordna arbetet med klimatanpassningen och satsa resurser för att på allvar sätta igång med arbetet.« (party programme ↗)“We need to coordinate work on climate adaptation and invest resources to seriously start the work.”
• government investments in climate adaptation»investera i klimatanpassning för att möta effekterna av klimatförändringarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“invest in climate adaptation to meet the effects of climate change.”
• reduce society's vulnerability»Ökande medeltemperatur, mer nederbörd och oftare återkommande extremväder som skyfall och värmeböljor kräver ett arbete med klimatanpassning för att minska samhällets sårbarhet.« (party programme ↗)“Rising average temperature, more precipitation and increasingly frequent extreme weather such as heavy rainfall and heat waves require work on climate adaptation to reduce society's vulnerability.”
• protection against floods»För att skydda människor, hus och samhällsviktiga funktioner mot de översvämningar som skyfall och ihållande regn kan ge upphov till behöver tätorterna mer grönska och öppet vatten.« (party programme ↗)“To protect people, buildings and essential functions against flooding that heavy rainfall and prolonged rain can cause, urban areas need more greenery and open water.”

The plan says nothing about state financing of climate adaptation, but makes climate a central part of politics and requires all residents to have equivalent and reliable public services regardless of where they live, which affects coastal municipalities that alone cannot manage protection against erosion and flooding. The party programme bases the responsibility for future generations on taking swift action rather than postponing costs. The plan's demand to use taxpayers' money prudently goes in the opposite direction, which is why the assessment is uncertain.

• climate is core politicsdecisive»För Centerpartiet är omsorg om miljö och klimat en central del av politiken, aldrig en nedprioritering eller ett särintresse.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For the Centre Party, care for the environment and climate is a central part of politics, never a deprioritization or a special interest.”
• equivalent service throughout the country»Alla invånare ska ha tillgång till en likvärdig och pålitlig välfärd oavsett var de bor, och den offentliga servicen ska finnas där när man behöver den.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All residents should have access to equivalent and reliable welfare regardless of where they live, and public services should be there when needed.”
• responsibility for future generations»Klimatförändringarna är det största miljöhotet mänskligheten känner. Dess konsekvenser riskerar att underminera frihet och välfärd för kommande generationer.« (party programme ↗)“Climate change is the biggest environmental threat mankind faces. Its consequences risk undermining freedom and welfare for future generations.”
• prudent use of tax funds»Det finanspolitiska ramverket ska värnas och förstärkas, och Sveriges långsiktiga ekonomiska stabilitet ska försvaras. Politiken ska hushålla med skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The fiscal framework must be safeguarded and strengthened, and Sweden's long-term economic stability must be defended. Politics should use taxpayers' money prudently.”

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 election manifesto's climate line is real climate taxes and the polluter pays, explicitly rather than turning climate policy into a competition over the highest subsidies. A new long-term government grant to municipal climate adaptation projects is just such a subsidy solution and lacks support in the plan, which instead places the cost responsibility on whoever causes the damage and points to spatial planning. The plan does not however address the financing of climate adaptation, so the assessment is uncertain.

• regulatory instruments rather than subsidiesdecisive»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 for real climate taxes rather than turning climate policy into a competition over the highest subsidies and most symbolic taxes.”
• the polluter pays»Principen att förorenaren betalar ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The principle that the polluter pays shall be upheld.”
• cost responsibility with the polluter»Den som förorenar ska betala.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Those who pollute shall pay.”
• planning for rising water levels»Det behövs samhällsplanering för att klara klimatförändringarnas« (party programme ↗)“Spatial planning is needed to manage climate change's”

The plan places on the public a stewardship with long-term comprehensive view and respect for coming generations, and establishes that it is a state task to support municipalities that cannot manage their duties with their own tax revenue. The financing principle shall be respected when the state places new tasks on municipalities. A long-term and foreseeable state grant and a national plan for major climate adaptation projects therefore follow from the plan's principles.

• state support to weak municipalitiesdecisive»Det är en statlig uppgift att stödja kommuner som« (party programme ↗)“It is a state task to support municipalities that”
• the financing principle»enskilda människorna kunna lita på att deras lagliga rättigheter respekteras av kommunala organ. Finansieringsprincipen måste respekteras när staten ålägger kommunerna nya uppgifter.« (party programme ↗)“individual people can rely on that their legal rights are respected by municipal bodies. The financing principle must be respected when the state places new tasks on municipalities.”
• stewardship across generations»långsiktig helhetssyn med respekt för vår samtida omgivning och kommande generationer.« (party programme ↗)“long-term comprehensive view with respect for our contemporary surroundings and coming generations.”
• the precautionary principle»också att agerandet grundas på försiktighetsprincipen.« (party programme ↗)“also that action is based on the precautionary principle.”

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.

State financing of climate adaptation is not addressed in the plan. The nearest principle is that state expenditure should decrease and that waste should be stopped, that the surplus target should be valued and that the great needs within the justice system, defence and welfare should go first. A new long-term state grant to municipalities' climate adaptation is an extensive new expenditure commitment that does not fit into that prioritization. Stewardship responsibility towards future generations points in the opposite direction, but does not decide.

• reduced state expendituredecisive»Statens utgifter ska minska – vi ska stoppa slöseriet med skattepengar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“State expenditure should decrease – we shall stop waste with tax money”
• prioritization of state funds»De stora behoven inom rättsväsendet, försvaret och välfärden ställer stora krav på prioriteringar under åren som kommer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The great needs within the justice system, defence and welfare place great demands on prioritization in the years ahead.”
• valued surplus target»Överskottsmålet ska värnas och det är inte aktuellt att övergå till ett balansmål.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The surplus target shall be valued and it is not current to shift to a balanced budget target.”
• stewardship for the future»Vårt förvaltaransvar är ett ansvar mot kommande generationer,« (party programme ↗)“Our stewardship is a responsibility towards future generations,”

The plan's stated commitment is to reduce the costs of climate measures and to seek the measures that give the most environmental benefit per crown, not to establish a new long-term state subsidy in the hundred-billion class. The counter-proposal demands exactly such an expanded state financing commitment, which goes against the plan's prioritization of welfare and justice system before new large public investments. The fact that municipalities should get increased support in environmental work pulls partly in the opposite direction but weighs less.

• reduced costs for climate measuresdecisive»Minska kostnaderna för migrationspolitik, bistånd, EU-bidrag och klimatåtgärder som kan göras mer effektiva« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reduce the costs of migration policy, aid, EU contributions and climate measures that can be made more effective”
• environmental effectiveness per crown»Sträva efter miljöeffektivitet och hitta de åtgärder som ger mest miljö per krona« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strive for environmental effectiveness and find the measures that give the most environmental benefit per crown”
• welfare before prestige projects»Satsa på välfärden istället för politiska prestigeprojekt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Invest in welfare instead of political prestige projects”
• support for municipalities' environmental work»Kommunerna måste ges ökat stöd och hjälp i miljöarbetet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Municipalities must be given increased support and help in environmental work.”