Isabella Lövin

Katowice, Poland, 12 December 2018. Check against delivery.

The European Commission has presented it strategic long-term climate vision for the EU. Sweden takes a positive view of the level of ambition in the strategy, with its aim of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Government today decided to contribute more than SEK 2 billion to the seventh replenishment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-7). Sweden will thereby increase its contribution to the GEF by more than 50 per cent for the period 2018–2022, compared with 2014–2018. This makes Sweden the sixth largest donor overall and the largest per capita donor. In total, replenishment pledges total SEK 34 billion (USD 4.1 billion). This decision reflects what was announced by the Government in the Budget Bill for 2018.

On 9 October, the EU climate ministers are due to agree on the EU’s negotiating mandate for the next international climate negotiations. Sweden considers that the EU must work for an ambitious, robust and dynamic framework to implement the Paris Agreement.

A new research collaboration for climate and security will be launched today in connection with World Water Week in Stockholm. The Stockholm Climate Security Hub brings together four Swedish research institutes that are world leaders in the area of climate and security. The aim is to promote knowledge development and policy dialogue in the area, not least to support the UN and other multilateral actors with evidence-based analyses.

The Government has adopted a new strategy for Sweden’s cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for the period 2018–2022. Sweden is a major donor to UN Women, which promotes gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment and rights worldwide, at global, regional and national level. Swedish core support to UN Women will amount to SEK 536 million during the four-year strategy period.

Translation of an article published in Dagens Nyheter on 10 July 2018.

The Stockholm Forum on Gender Equality was held on 15–17 April 2018 and gathered more than 700 participants from over 100 countries and a multitude of sectors and functions. The discussions covered a broad range of areas and focused on concrete methods and tools to enhance gender equality and the full enjoyment of rights, representation and resources for all women and girls.

The European Development Days is a development forum that the European Commission has organised since 2006. This year’s theme was gender equality under the thread ‘Women and Girls at the Forefront of Sustainable Development’.

In connection with the one-year anniversary of the UN Ocean Conference in New York co-chaired by Sweden and Fiji, the Government has decided to finance a number of new international ocean projects. To continue demonstrating leadership, the Government is allocating a further SEK 80 million to contribute to improving the global marine environment.