Environment and climate

The United Nations Environment Assembly decided to initiate negotiations on a global agreement to end plastic pollution at its meeting in Nairobi on 2 March. In conjunction with the Environment Assembly, the United Nations Environment Programme celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.

Eva Nordmark. Minister for Employment and Gender Equality. Commission on the Status of Women. New York. 15 March 2022. Check against delivery.

On 14–17 March, Minister for Employment and Gender Equality Eva Nordmark will take part in a session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66). The theme is achieving gender equality in the context of climate change.

Towards a green and sustainable deal for sport, digital conference, 3 March 2022, European parliament, Strasbourg Check against delivery.

The United Nations Environment Assembly endorsed a historic resolution to initiate negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution. This will be the most important environmental agreement since the Paris Agreement. Sweden has long been a driving force for a global solution to plastic pollution.

In the proposal referred to the Council on Legislation for consideration, the Government proposes amendments to the Swedish Environmental Code and the Mineral Act that entail a ban on the extraction of coal, lignite, crude oil, shale oil and natural gas similar to the ban on uranium extraction. The Government also presents proposals aimed at tightening regulatory framework for the extraction of alum shale.

Minister for Climate and the Environment Annika Strandhäll is participating in the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on 28 February–3 March. Sweden is pushing for negotiations on a global agreement on plastic pollution and a green post-pandemic recovery.

The virtual side-event “Towards Stockholm 50: Transforming global value chains for a healthy planet and prosperity for all” at UNEA 5.2 focuses on sustainable global value chain initiatives as a key input towards the UN high level meeting Stockholm +50 in June 2022.

Heads of state and government from the EU and the African Union (AU) will meet in Brussels on 17–18 February. It is the seventh time the EU and AU leaders will meet. The aim is to establish foundations for a renewed and deepened partnership between the two unions. The leaders are expected to adopt a joint declaration on closer cooperation in a range of areas. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will represent Sweden.

The Government has today decided to permit the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel at Forsmark in Östhammar Municipality. The Government has also decided to permit construction of the encapsulation plant that is needed to handle the spent nuclear fuel in Oskarshamn Municipality.

The Government has approved the application for the final repository for spent nuclear fuel and the encapsulation plant needed to manage the spent fuel. In the next stage of the process, the land and environment court will issue a permit and stipulate its conditions. The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority will then examine and approve the future work in a step-by-step review.

The leaders of the EU Member States and the Eastern Partnership countries will meet for the sixth Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on 15 December. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will represent Sweden.

The leaders of the EU Member States and the Eastern Partnership countries will meet for the sixth Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on 15 December. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will represent Sweden.

Sweden will host World Environment Day on 5 June 2022 in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The theme – ‘Only One Earth’ – will highlight the possibilities for shifting to more sustainable, greener lifestyles.

The UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow has ended. The main successes of the conference were that countries were encouraged to sharpen their climate goals as early as next year, double support for adaptation to climate change by 2025 and that the role of fossil fuels in climate transition was mentioned for the first time.

The Nordic environment and climate ministers met on 3 November in Copenhagen to discuss how they can work together to push for an ambitious outcome from the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Issues concerning a global agreement on plastics and the plans for the Stockholm+50 conference are also on the agenda.

Next year, Sweden will host Stockholm+50, a UN conference that aims to help accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Sweden today launched an initiative to strengthen young people’s participation in the work ahead of and during Stockholm+50.

The second week of UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow is currently in progress. Minister for Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth is in attendance together with transport ministers from around the world and other international actors. Sweden is taking part in a number of global initiatives to pick up the pace in the transition to emissions-free transport.

At the ongoing UN COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Sweden held a high-level meeting in the global Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT). Sweden and India jointly launched LeadIT in 2019 to push for climate transition in heavy industry. Group members at the meeting agreed to focus on implementation of national roadmaps and strategies for the industrial sector’s transition to zero emissions.

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is being held in Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November. The world’s countries are gathered there to negotiate global climate action under the Paris Agreement. They will negotiate on issues such as rules on emissions trading and how countries should report their emissions. The conference will also focus on how the countries’ climate commitments measure up to the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.