Environment and climate

2025 constitutes a critical year for climate action. All parties to the Paris Agreement will present new national climate plans, so called Nationally Determined Contributions, NDC:s, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in November. It is urgent to act to keep the 1.5ºC limit within reach. At the same time, the green transition offers opportunities for growth, jobs and prosperity. Swedish businesses are in the forefront of innovative green solutions and stand ready to engage with partners.

In a government bill submitted to the Riksdag last week, a new Act is proposed concerning state aid for companies looking to invest in new nuclear power reactors. A memorandum that will be referred for consultation today proposes supplementary provisions on how companies’ applications for aid should be structured.

The CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Carlos Manuel Rodríguez will visit Stockholm on 1–2 April for meetings with Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa and Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari. In connection with the visit, meetings will also be held with the Riksdag’s Committee on Environment and Agriculture, the business sector, universities, civil society organisations and representatives of public authorities.

Sweden, Norway and Denmark will cooperate to bring a halt to products that are harmful to health and the environment from operators such as Temu, Shein and Wish.

Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari has received the OECD’s Environmental Performance Review on how Sweden’s climate and environmental policy has performed since 2014, when the previous review was published.

On 30–31 January 2025, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard visited Peru together with a business delegation. The visit highlights Sweden’s good relations and mutual trade interests with Peru.

Sweden is going to purchase hybrid bonds from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) valued at approximately SEK 100 million. This investment is part of the Government’s strategy to modernise and streamline development assistance and promote sustainable economic development in partner countries.

After long negotiations, the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 concluded on 24 November 2024 with a decision on a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG). The NCQG encompasses USD 300 billion annually. However, decisions on other negotiating points were postponed to next year’s COP30 in Brazil.

The fifth and final session of the International Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including the marine environment, begins today, November 25 in Busan, South Korea. It is important to regulate plastic pollution on a global level to reduce pollution and climate impact, protect the oceans, nature, and biodiversity.

As of Wednesday 20 November, Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari is taking part in the final negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The negotiations are scheduled to conclude on Friday 22 November.

Sweden's national statement to the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 was delivered by Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari in Baku, Azerbaijan, 20 November 2024. Check against delivery.

Sweden is and will remain one of the world’s most generous donors of international climate finance. Swedish climate aid will be expanded and streamlined. With its substantial contribution in 2022, Sweden played a significant role in achieving the goal of USD 100 billion per year in global climate finance. Sweden’s contribution to international climate finance is at the core of its climate policy. International climate finance will contribute to both emissions reductions and climate adaptation.

The Government has issued inquiry terms of reference with the aim of strengthening and developing Sweden’s international climate action. The government inquiry will focus on preparing proposals for measures to strengthen Swedish initiatives to contribute to, and push for, climate action in other countries, and to support the Government Offices in implementing Sweden’s international climate policy.

Sweden has announced its contribution of SEK 8 billion to the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF), making the country one of the largest donors. Through the GCF, low- and middle-income countries can receive support to implement climate investments for reduced emissions and protect their societies against climate change by taking adaptation measures.

In connection with the COP29 climate change conference, Sweden is announcing a contribution to a new fund that aims to help particularly vulnerable countries manage climate-related loss and damage (the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage). The Fund is under the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Government decided today to task Business Sweden with stepping up its efforts to promote investments in the Swedish battery value chain, i.e. in all parts of production. The aim is to enable capital and important expertise to be brought into and retained in the Swedish business sector. The assignment also includes helping relevant companies and national, regional and local actors with advice and contacts.

The UN Climate Change Conference COP 29 will take place on 11–22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan. The key issues to be negotiated are the new global goal for financing climate action and emissions trading. The Government also wants to pick up the pace of work on new national climate action plans.

National statement delivered by Minister Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari at the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) in Cali, Colombia, 29 October 2024. Check against delivery.

The UN global agreement to halt and reverse the ongoing loss of biodiversity – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – was adopted in 2022. Implementation efforts are being followed up at the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) taking place in Cali, Colombia on 21 October–1 November 2024.

National Statement at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard on behalf of Sweden. New York, September 2024. Check against delivery.