SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sweden's right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson walks next to ministers of the new government at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, on October 18, 2022. (Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
'Devastating': Right-Wing Swedish Government Shutters Environment Ministry
"It is impossible to describe more clearly how little this government values the environment and the climate," said the leader of the Swedish Greens.
Oct 19, 2022
In one of its first moves after taking power Tuesday, Sweden's newly elected right-wing government scrapped the country's environment ministry, drawing outrage from opposition lawmakers who say the step threatens to undermine the nation's chances of meeting its climate targets.
"They don't care about our common future. Expect huge cuts in green funding."
Per Bolund, the leader of the Swedish Greens, wrote on social media that the axing of the environment ministry shows "how little this government values the environment and the climate."
"This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues," Bolund added, noting that Sweden will now be without a separate environment ministry for the first time in five decades.
Par Holmgren, a Swedish meteorologist and member of the European Parliament, also expressed outrage on Twitter.
\u201cOne of the first moves of the new rightwing gov in Sweden? \ud83e\udd14Dismantling the Ministry for Environment! \ud83e\udd15\n\nThey don\u2019t care about our common future.\n\nExpect huge cuts in green funding \ud83d\udc49 a devastating impact on climate policies that we, the Greens, worked so hard to put in place.\u201d— P\u00e4r Holmgren (@P\u00e4r Holmgren) 1666096200
Following the change announced by right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, new environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari will work under the minister for energy, business, and industry, Ebba Busch.
Busch is the leader of Sweden's Christian Democrats, part of the right-wing coalition now governing the country after winning a slim majority in September's elections. The bloc includes the Sweden Democrats, a far-right xenophobic party.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that "Kristersson's government is heavily dependent on the nationalist Sweden Democrats, the only party in parliament that doesn't back the country's target of having net zero emissions by 2045."
"The four-party alliance that agreed on forming the new government last week said they would seek to lower fuel prices, partly by reducing the percentage of biofuels that has to be mixed into gas and diesel to the minimum level required by the European Union," Bloomberg noted. "That would make it more difficult to reach a target of reducing transport emissions by 70% by 2030."
Kristersson is also pushing for an expansion of nuclear power, aiming to reverse earlier efforts to dismantle the country's reactors.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Kristersson said "Sweden's goal on electricity production would change from '100% renewable' to '100 percent fossil-free,' which leaves room for nuclear energy."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In one of its first moves after taking power Tuesday, Sweden's newly elected right-wing government scrapped the country's environment ministry, drawing outrage from opposition lawmakers who say the step threatens to undermine the nation's chances of meeting its climate targets.
"They don't care about our common future. Expect huge cuts in green funding."
Per Bolund, the leader of the Swedish Greens, wrote on social media that the axing of the environment ministry shows "how little this government values the environment and the climate."
"This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues," Bolund added, noting that Sweden will now be without a separate environment ministry for the first time in five decades.
Par Holmgren, a Swedish meteorologist and member of the European Parliament, also expressed outrage on Twitter.
\u201cOne of the first moves of the new rightwing gov in Sweden? \ud83e\udd14Dismantling the Ministry for Environment! \ud83e\udd15\n\nThey don\u2019t care about our common future.\n\nExpect huge cuts in green funding \ud83d\udc49 a devastating impact on climate policies that we, the Greens, worked so hard to put in place.\u201d— P\u00e4r Holmgren (@P\u00e4r Holmgren) 1666096200
Following the change announced by right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, new environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari will work under the minister for energy, business, and industry, Ebba Busch.
Busch is the leader of Sweden's Christian Democrats, part of the right-wing coalition now governing the country after winning a slim majority in September's elections. The bloc includes the Sweden Democrats, a far-right xenophobic party.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that "Kristersson's government is heavily dependent on the nationalist Sweden Democrats, the only party in parliament that doesn't back the country's target of having net zero emissions by 2045."
"The four-party alliance that agreed on forming the new government last week said they would seek to lower fuel prices, partly by reducing the percentage of biofuels that has to be mixed into gas and diesel to the minimum level required by the European Union," Bloomberg noted. "That would make it more difficult to reach a target of reducing transport emissions by 70% by 2030."
Kristersson is also pushing for an expansion of nuclear power, aiming to reverse earlier efforts to dismantle the country's reactors.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Kristersson said "Sweden's goal on electricity production would change from '100% renewable' to '100 percent fossil-free,' which leaves room for nuclear energy."
In one of its first moves after taking power Tuesday, Sweden's newly elected right-wing government scrapped the country's environment ministry, drawing outrage from opposition lawmakers who say the step threatens to undermine the nation's chances of meeting its climate targets.
"They don't care about our common future. Expect huge cuts in green funding."
Per Bolund, the leader of the Swedish Greens, wrote on social media that the axing of the environment ministry shows "how little this government values the environment and the climate."
"This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues," Bolund added, noting that Sweden will now be without a separate environment ministry for the first time in five decades.
Par Holmgren, a Swedish meteorologist and member of the European Parliament, also expressed outrage on Twitter.
\u201cOne of the first moves of the new rightwing gov in Sweden? \ud83e\udd14Dismantling the Ministry for Environment! \ud83e\udd15\n\nThey don\u2019t care about our common future.\n\nExpect huge cuts in green funding \ud83d\udc49 a devastating impact on climate policies that we, the Greens, worked so hard to put in place.\u201d— P\u00e4r Holmgren (@P\u00e4r Holmgren) 1666096200
Following the change announced by right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, new environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari will work under the minister for energy, business, and industry, Ebba Busch.
Busch is the leader of Sweden's Christian Democrats, part of the right-wing coalition now governing the country after winning a slim majority in September's elections. The bloc includes the Sweden Democrats, a far-right xenophobic party.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that "Kristersson's government is heavily dependent on the nationalist Sweden Democrats, the only party in parliament that doesn't back the country's target of having net zero emissions by 2045."
"The four-party alliance that agreed on forming the new government last week said they would seek to lower fuel prices, partly by reducing the percentage of biofuels that has to be mixed into gas and diesel to the minimum level required by the European Union," Bloomberg noted. "That would make it more difficult to reach a target of reducing transport emissions by 70% by 2030."
Kristersson is also pushing for an expansion of nuclear power, aiming to reverse earlier efforts to dismantle the country's reactors.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Kristersson said "Sweden's goal on electricity production would change from '100% renewable' to '100 percent fossil-free,' which leaves room for nuclear energy."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.