Ibrahim Baylan

The collaborations, initiatives and projects that have resulted so far from the five innovation partnership programmes were presented when the National Innovation Council met on Monday 28 August. Together, the project managers and the Council looked to the future and discussed critical success factors, goals and opportunities for developing these partnerships. The experiences of partnership working, where the business sector, academia and organisations work together strategically, were highlighted and discussed by the Council.

On Thursday 31 August, Minister for Higher Education and Research, Helene Hellmark Knutsson, is hosting a meeting with Wan Gang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology. A cooperation agreement on research will be signed during the meeting.

The visit of Minister for Policy Coordination and Energy, Ibrahim Baylan, to Beijing in June contributed to strengthened relations with several of the world’s largest economies and provided opportunities to promote Swedish know-how and companies. An action plan for Sweden’s continued bilateral energy cooperation with China was also agreed.

On 2 June, Minister for Policy Coordination and Energy Ibrahim Baylan met the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, in Stockholm. The meeting was part of the preparations ahead of the IEA Ministerial Meeting in November 2017, which Mr Baylan will chair.

The Eight Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8) and Second Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI2) in Beijing this week have demonstrated the commitment of the People’s Republic of China to the clean energy transition.

The Swedish Lighting Challenge is celebrating its first anniversary, and to mark the occasion Minister for Policy Coordination and Energy Ibrahim Baylan visited Gröna Lund, one of the most recent actors to join the initiative. A lot has happened since the initiative was launched a year ago, and actors from both the public and private sectors are now involved.

On 5–7 October, Minister for Policy Coordination and Energy Ibrahim Baylan will continue the work of Team Sweden Energy with a promotion visit to India.

In the Budget Bill for 2017, the Government is strengthening efforts towards a toxin-free everyday environment, a fossil-free welfare society and renewable energy. Sweden will be a pioneer on climate issues, and we will step up the pace to achieve the environmental objectives. This requires increased knowledge, new technological solutions and clear targets along the way.

The Government, the Moderate Party, the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats have concluded an agreement on Sweden’s long-term energy policy. The agreement consists of a common road map for a controlled transition to an entirely renewable electricity system, with a target of 100 per cent renewable electricity production by 2040.