The newly appointed Swedish government has abolished the Ministry of the Environment, which has been in place in the country for 35 years.
From now on, it will be integrated into the Ministry of Energy, Enterprise, and Industry, which Ebba Busch of the Christian Democrats will head.
“If we want to solve climate issues, it is about transforming the industry and the transport sector,” Busch told the media, adding that previous governments had given “too much weight” to environmental issues.
Although the Environment Ministry thus loses its autonomy, the new Prime Minister and leader of the Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson, has appointed Romina Pourmokhtari, of the Liberal Party, as the new Climate Minister, who will work under the direction of the Christian Democrat leader.
Kristersson’s decision represents a radical change in the environmental policies that, until now, Sweden has followed as one of the leading countries in environmental issues.
So much so that it was the nation that embraced 50 years ago the Stockholm Declaration, which placed environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns.
Now, in a resolution that is also marked by the catastrophic consequences that such policies have had for Europe, the Ministry of the Environment will work to respond to the needs of the economic, energy, and industrial sectors.
The decision comes less than a month before Egypt hosts international political representatives and environmentalists at COP 27 on Nov. 6.
The high-level UN conference aims to agree on new measures to address the “climate emergency”.