Government's legislative proposal

The plan demands ambitious environmental goals followed up with sharp legislation and conscious, comprehensive work for rich ecosystems, and that energy projects be compared in environmental consequences over their entire life cycle. Lowering the requirements level at the review for modern environmental conditions instead weakens environmental adaptation and harms migratory fish and valuable water environments. The plan therefore supports the counter-proposal's objection.

• sharp environmental goalsdecisive»miljömål som följs upp med skarp lagstiftning och praktiskt arbete.« (party programme ↗)“environmental goals followed up with sharp legislation and practical work.”
• good conditions for ecosystems»Sverige behöver också ett medvetet och heltäckande arbete med att« (party programme ↗)“Sweden also needs conscious and comprehensive work to”
• protect biodiversity»Vi måste lösa klimatkrisen och skydda den biologiska mångfalden« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We must solve the climate crisis and protect biodiversity”
• weighing environmental consequences»behöver jämföras i miljökonsekvenser och säkerhet över hela sin« (party programme ↗)“need to be compared in environmental consequences and safety over their entire”

The election manifesto wants to expand electricity production of all kinds, protect hydropower and speed up permit processes, and the party programme requires electricity transformation that works for industry. This supports the position that exemption possibilities in the reassessment should be used fully. The counter-proposal's requirement not to weaken environmental adaptation weighs less, although the plan also protects biodiversity and valuable water environments.

• protect hydropowerdecisive»Vi behöver också värna vattenkraften och se till att solpanelerna blir fler« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We also need to protect hydropower and make sure solar panels increase”
• faster permit processes»Långsamma tillståndsprocesser ska snabbas på.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Slow permit processes must be speeded up.”
• electricity transformation for industry»Elektrifiering som fungerar för människor, industri och samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“Electricity transformation that works for people, industry and society.”
• protection of water environments»Värn av biologisk mångfald och Sveriges värdefulla natur och vattenmiljöer.« (party programme ↗)“Protection of biodiversity and Sweden's valuable natural and water environments.”

The plan establishes that hydroelectric power is fully developed and that works that do not meet today's environmental requirements should be demolished or environmentally adapted to secure open migration routes for fish and other species. It explicitly rejects that the green transition is used as an excuse to relax environmental legislation. The counter-proposal's criticism of lowered environmental requirements in the reassessment therefore follows directly from the plan.

• free migration routes for fishdecisive»rivs ut eller miljöanpassas för att säkra öppna vandringsvägar för fisk« (party programme ↗)“demolished or environmentally adapted to secure open migration routes for fish”
• environmental legislation must not be relaxed»Den gröna omställningen ska inte användas som ursäkt« (party programme ↗)“The green transition must not be used as an excuse”
• hydroelectric power is fully developed»Vi anser att vattenkraften är färdigutbyggd« (party programme ↗)“We consider that hydroelectric power is fully developed”
• restore water environments»rädda kustens ekosystem — återskapa förstörda miljöer .« (2022 manifesto ↗)“restore the coast's ecosystems — restore destroyed environments.”

flags: citat_migrerat

The election manifesto wants to double carbon-free electricity production and explicitly requires that the Environmental Code be reformed so that a project's climate benefit is given greater weight in environmental assessment. Hydropower's role for the electricity system and electrification is precisely such a climate benefit, which speaks for lowered requirement levels in the reassessment. The counter-proposal's requirement for maintained or tightened environmental adaptation goes against that prioritization, even though the plan simultaneously wants to save lakes and watercourses.

• climate benefit weighs heavier in assessmentdecisive»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 ↗)“It is time to halve the time it takes to get approval for green investments and reform the Environmental Code so that a project's climate benefit is given greater weight in environmental assessment.”
• doubled carbon-free electricity»Vi vill fördubbla produktionen av utsläppsfri el, och rusta och bygga ut elnätet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to double production of carbon-free electricity, and reinforce and expand the electricity grid.”
• protection of water environments»Rädda Sveriges sjöar, vattendrag och hav.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Save Sweden's lakes, watercourses and seas.”
• science-based climate policy»Klimatpolitiken ska utgå från vad vetenskapen visar är nödvändigt för att undvika farliga förändringar.« (party programme ↗)“Climate policy shall be based on what science shows is necessary to avoid dangerous changes.”

The plan says explicitly that hydropower shall be developed through efficiency and not through increased exploitation, and that modernization shall involve requirements that the power plants meet today's environmental rules. It also requires that installations be designed so that damage to migrating fish is minimized. The counter-proposal's objection against weakened environmental adaptation thus follows directly from the plan.

• protection for migrating fishdecisive»Anläggningar för vattenkraft ska vara utformade så att skadorna för vandrande fisk minimeras.« (party programme ↗)“Installations for hydropower shall be designed so that damage to migrating fish is minimized.”
• modern environmental requirements on hydropower»Vattenkraften kan utvecklas genom effektivisering, inte genom ökad exploatering. Denna modernisering ska också innebära krav på att kraftverken lever upp till dagens miljöregler.« (party programme ↗)“Hydropower can be developed through efficiency, not through increased exploitation. This modernization shall also involve requirements that the power plants meet today's environmental rules.”
• strong protection for watercourses»Fjäll-, skogs- och kustområden samt sjöar och vattendrag med höga naturvärden ska ha ett starkt skydd.« (party programme ↗)“Mountain, forest and coastal areas as well as lakes and watercourses with high natural values shall have strong protection.”
• transition with nature conservation»Med en klimatomställning som går hand i hand med naturvård och biologisk mångfald.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“With a climate transition that goes hand in hand with nature conservation and biological diversity.”

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 election manifesto explicitly establishes that hydropower shall be valued, both large-scale and small-scale, and the party programme makes nuclear power, hydropower and heat generation base power that shall be valued for supply security. The counter-proposal instead wants that environmental requirements in reassessment not be weakened. The plan's commitment on hydropower's role carries more weight than the general nature conservation writings in this assessment.

• value hydropowerdecisive»Värna vattenkraften, både den storskaliga och småskaliga.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Value hydropower, both large-scale and small-scale.”
• base power to be valued»Denna baskraft ska värnas.« (party programme ↗)“This base power shall be valued.”
• secure energy supply»Sveriges energiförsörjning ska tryggas genom långsiktig energipolitik med fasta spelregler.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden's energy supply shall be secured through long-term energy policy with fixed rules of the game.”
• biological diversity»Att slå vakt om den biologiska mångfalden är viktigt av många skäl.« (party programme ↗)“It is important to guard the biological diversity.”

The plan's decisive commitment is that the electricity system shall be expanded with dispatchable fossil-free power and that permit processes shall be shortened, not tightened. The counter-proposal instead requires that environmental adaptation of hydropower be strengthened and that the requirement level not be lowered, which would reduce dispatchable capacity. The plan establishes that the transition requires clean and stable electricity at a reasonable price, and therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's demands.

• fossil-free dispatchable electricity productiondecisive»Ändra det energipolitiska målet från 100 procent förnybart till 100 procent fossilfritt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Change the energy policy goal from 100 per cent renewable to 100 per cent fossil-free”
• electricity a prerequisite for the transition»Utan ren och stabil el till rimligt pris blir det ingen klimatomställning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Without clean and stable electricity at a reasonable price there will be no climate transition.”
• stable electricity production prioritized»Upphandla kraftproduktion som stärker stabiliteten« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Procure power production that strengthens stability”
• shortened permit processes»Investera i det svenska elnätet och korta tillståndsprocesserna för elnätsutbyggnad« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Invest in the Swedish electricity network and shorten permit processes for electricity network expansion”

The plan counts hydropower as one of the cornerstones of electricity production and warns that Swedish environmental requirements that go further than the rest of the world eliminate industries without providing environmental benefit. The counter-proposal instead wants to sharpen environmental adaptation and criticizes that exemption possibilities are used in full. The plan's requirements for supply security and stop to symbolic politics that hampers industry therefore speak against the counter-proposal's requirements.

• hydropower as cornerstonedecisive»Under överskådlig framtid kommer kärnkraften och vattenkraften att utgöra« (party programme ↗)“Over the foreseeable future nuclear power and hydropower will constitute”
• no Swedish special requirements»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 to the rest of the world risk often eliminating Swedish industries and producing globally counterproductive results when it comes to the goals the requirements aim to achieve.”
• supply security in the electricity system»Sätta upp mål för fossilfrihet och att ett mål för leveranssäkerhet införs« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Set targets for fossil-free and that a target for supply security is introduced”
• stop hampering symbolic politics»Stoppa symbolpolitik som går ut över möjligheten att bedriva industri och näring« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop symbolic politics that goes at the expense of the possibility to conduct industry and business”