Sweden may struggle to reach climate goals by 2030: Minister

STOCKHOLM: Sweden may struggle to reach its climate goals by 2030, the country's Minister for Finance Elisabeth Svantesson said.

"It may be difficult but our focus should be to decrease total emissions as fast as possible," she told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD).

According to Sweden's climate goal, emissions should be 63 per cent lower by 2030 than in 1990.

For transportation, excluding domestic flights, the decrease should be 70 per cent in 2030 compared to 2010, Swedish Television (SVT) reported.

However, the new government has decided to lower the blend of biofuels in petrol and diesel from January 2024 to the minimum mandated by the European Union, to lower soaring fuel prices.

This is expected to increase emissions by 10 per cent, meaning that Sweden will not reach its climate goal by 2030.

When the new government presented its budget earlier this week, it said that six out of 19 climate targets would not be met.

This is due to the fact that new nuclear power will not be operational in 10 years, Svantesson told SvD.

However, Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari told SVT: "It will be difficult but it is not impossible."