(cont. from § 8) Management of land and water areas (cont. CU15)
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns national coordination of marine plans, national interests, as well as the protection of water areas and drinking water sources. C proposes that national interests should not apply to land already covered by other legislation 1. C also wants essential societal interests to be defined during the exploitation of farmland, that underground water resources should be mapped, and that the Water Services Act be amended to allow external financing of water and sewage infrastructure 1. C also proposes a review of municipal requirements and fees for connection to water services 1. MP considers that the government must take greater responsibility to secure the water supply in a crisis 2. MP wants a robust water supply in both peace and war 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Alireza Akhondi (C)
Mr. Speaker! Today it is intended that we shall debate the Committee on Civil Affairs' motion report Management of land and water areas. In broad strokes, it concerns motions on national coordination of marine plans and national interests, as well as on the protection of water areas and drinking water sources.
These are fundamentally very important issues for our society to function, both when things are calm and when crises occur. One can observe that the government also within the area of this motion's report is conspicuous by its absence when it comes to concrete proposals.
It feels a bit melancholy to have to repeat the arguments from previous debates. I will therefore, just for today, content myself with stating this and highlighting some of the Center Party's proposals in the report.
We propose, among other things, that national interests should not apply to land that is already covered by other legislation. That should go without saying, but that is not how it works today. The Center Party proposes that when developing arable land, one should also be allowed to define what are essential societal interests. Given everything that has happened in our immediate vicinity and in the world, it is extra important when it comes to the issue of arable land, which my colleagues have raised in the debate earlier. In the same vein, we also propose that underground water resources should be mapped to promote the restoration of groundwater.
We also propose that the Water Services Act be amended so that external financing of the water and sewage infrastructure is permitted. We know that there are several hundred billion in deferred maintenance when it comes to the water and sewage networks, so in that context, this is an important issue.
Centerpartiet also proposes that a review should be made of rules and fees when it comes to municipal requirements for connection to municipal water services. Colleague Lars Beckman was in his speech about how it can lead to completely unreasonable situations for the individual. We have more proposals, but I do not intend to take up the Chamber's time with them.
Centerpartiet stands by all its reservations, but for the sake of time, I move for approval of only reservation 3.
Märta Stenevi (MP)
Mr. Speaker! Water, what a thing! About ten years ago, my eldest child learned about the water cycle. She still walks around and turns off the taps if someone in the house lets the water run for too long. She realized even then, in primary school, what very many adults find it so easy to turn a blind eye to: Clean water is a limited resource that is incredibly valuable.
Climate change is an existential threat to humanity. In the long term, it may become impossible to sustain human life on the planet. In the slightly shorter term, Sweden and the Nordic countries could end up in the crossfire between feudal warlords in Russia, China, and the USA when melting polar ice makes it possible to drill for oil in the Arctic.
But climate change also causes problems here and now in our everyday lives. Right now, groundwater levels are dramatically low in southern Sweden, and irrigation bans have already been introduced on Gotland. In recent years, instead of drought, we have been able to see cloudbursts that our water and sewage systems have not been able to handle. These have, among other things, caused overflows in the system, meaning that the sewage system becomes overfilled by rainwater and untreated water flows out into seas and watercourses and makes it impossible to use the water.
The management of land and water areas
Significantly worse than feces in the water, however, are forever chemicals. PFAS has become the most well-known abbreviation for these chemicals – a collective name for molecules that do not break down over a very long period but instead are stored in the body and cause great damage to humans and animals.
Mr. Speaker! It is easy to take what I hold in my hand for granted: a glass of water – clean water that our children do not get sick from but which today we use to flush toilets, water lawns with, and fill our pools with. Yet, this is perhaps the most decisive and valuable thing we have: water, clean water. It needs to be protected.
Mr. Speaker! Protecting the water bodies is a nature issue, but it is also a preparedness issue. Today, much of the responsibility is spread across the municipalities and individual property owners, but we believe that the government must also take greater responsibility to secure access to water in a crisis, whether it is in the event of war and conflict or as a result of the climate crisis.
Miljöpartiet has addressed the issues surrounding water in a long series of motions. The Committee on Civil Affairs' report 15 also contains a large number of demands aimed at providing a more robust and stable water supply in both peace and, God forbid, war. It is a long series of demands because it is a long series of measures that are required, but I respect the House's practice and move for approval only to reservation 9.
Mr. Speaker! We teach our children the importance of water and about the water cycle in our world. Let us then also protect the water so that they can rely on there being clean water to drink, no matter what happens.
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.