Society's crisis preparedness

Björn Söder (SD)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating a report concerning one of the state's most fundamental tasks, namely to protect the population, maintain essential societal functions, and safeguard our freedom in peace, crisis, and war.

The reconstruction of civil defense and the strengthening of crisis preparedness must continue with vigor, long-term perspective, and national coordination. The security policy situation in our immediate vicinity has fundamentally changed. Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine has shown that war in Europe is not history but the present. At the same time, we see cyberattacks, influence operations, energy vulnerabilities, and an increasingly complex threat landscape.

Civil defense and crisis preparedness rest on three supporting principles: the principle of responsibility, the principle of proximity, and the principle of equality.

The principle of responsibility means that the actor responsible for an activity in peacetime also is so in crisis and war. The principle of proximity means that events should be handled where they occur and by the actors who are most closely affected. The principle of similarity means that the activity should function as normally as possible even under strain.

These principles are wise. They reflect a decentralized management model that has served Sweden well. Municipalities, regions, and county administrative boards have a fundamental responsibility. It is they who must ensure that preschool staff know what happens when the air raid siren sounds, that school meals are served, that the activities at the elderly care home function, and that electricity and water supply and care are maintained.

Mr. Speaker, we must also dare to be self-critical. During the 2000s, a number of fateful decisions were made. In the belief that eternal peace had arrived, large parts of the civil defense were dismantled. Routines, stockpiling, educational structures, and planning were dismantled. The robustness that had been built up over decades disappeared.

Today we stand in a situation where much must be built up from the ground up. At the same time, the municipalities have been severely tested over the recent years, first by the migration crisis and subsequently by the pandemic. School, elderly care and social services have been brought to their knees.

We have 290 municipalities in Sweden. They operate under vastly different conditions, and that means, in practice, 290 different solutions. The levels of ambition vary, the capacity varies, and the finances vary.

The principles are important, but they must not become an excuse for lack of clarity and lack of national governance. The state is ultimately responsible for the realm's security. Rebuilding the crisis preparedness cannot proceed at an insufficiently high pace or with excessively large differences between different parts of the country. It is therefore good that the government has given the Authority for Civil Defence a clear coordinating role. Through it, we can ensure clear leadership and governance in the rebuilding of the crisis preparedness.

We must have a modern, technologically updated, flexible and robust crisis preparedness, a preparedness that can handle cyberattacks, information influence, disruptions in supply chains and prolonged power outages. To reach that, national cohesion, clear guidelines and, where necessary, opportunities for sanctions against those actors who do not prioritize their statutory missions are needed.

The Sweden Democrats raised the issue regarding strong regulatory power to MSB 2023. It was therefore pleasing for us that this was implemented in connection with MSB becoming the Authority for Civil Defence, MCF.

It is not about undermining local self-government. It is about taking national responsibility in a time when the threats are cross-border and the consequences of deficiencies can be fatal.

Madam Speaker! We know that reconstruction takes time, but time is not infinite. Every year that passes without structures, stocks, training, and coordination reaching a sufficient level is a year of vulnerability.

The Sweden Democrats conducted a review in 2023 of regulatory letters and mandates to the then MSB, which showed that despite a year of war in Ukraine, the agency was still largely focused on climate issues.

Sweden, unlike for example Finland, has great difficulty working with several social issues simultaneously. Either it is the climate crisis and equality that is to permeate all state activities, or it is nothing. The shift in focus from soft values to the hard reality is still going too slowly in some areas, and the cost will be in human lives. It is a bill that in any case will not be laid on the Sverigedemokraternas conscience.

The Sweden Democrats submitted a proposal for a more defense-oriented activity. It is pleasing that the government later changed a number of assignments and that the authority today has an activity more focused on protecting the population in the event of a crisis and, ultimately, war. That said, we do not mean that all other assignments need to be removed or that equality and climate are completely unimportant. But one must be able to shift gears, because the outside world, and then primarily Russia, China, and Iran, take no account of Swedish climate goals or equality issues that have been put on the back burner for nearly 20 years.

Sweden will likely be paralyzed by cyberattacks and face a relentless attack of drones and long-range missiles that will leave large parts of our critical infrastructure and major cities in ruins. In that case, it is a poor consolation that MSB and our county administrative boards have talked about climate and equality instead of talking about shelters, supply preparedness, war volunteers, etc.

It may sound harsh, but civil protection and safeguarding the health and lives of citizens is a fundamental state task alongside healthcare, schools, and policing, regardless of what officials at ministries and county administrative boards think about this. It is the responsibility of politics to follow up and ensure that these issues are prioritized.

Madam Speaker! It is sometimes easy to focus solely on what has not gone well. At the same time, we can state that the Sweden Democrats, together with the government, have implemented major initiatives in civil defense – initiatives that we have, admittedly, pushed for throughout all our years in the Riksdag, such as the importance of stockpiling and strong self-sufficiency.

A question that the Sverigedemokraterna pushed in the previous Defense Commission was that Sweden and especially the Nordic region should be seen as an island and that we will likely need to manage on our own before help from Europe can arrive, depending on what the crisis or the war looks like. It is therefore pleasing that the government has implemented a number of in-depth initiatives with especially Finland and other Nordic countries in the area. A good deal of work remains, but we are convinced that a completed Nordic cooperation is something that will be decisive for us.

We must also talk about public anchoring. A civil defense is not just authority structures and plans. It is the citizens' awareness, self-preparedness, and willingness to contribute. The entire society must be involved – the business sector, civil society, and individual households. Only then can we talk about good crisis preparedness.

Sweden is a strong country. We have competence, technical ability, and a tradition of responsibility. But strength does not arise by itself. It is built through clear decisions, persistent funding, and clear-sighted leadership.

The committee's report is a step along the way, but the work is far from finished. We must never again end up in a situation where we dismantle our preparedness in the belief that the threats have disappeared. History has taught us the opposite. Therefore, Madam Speaker, we need both respect for the fundamental principles and the courage to develop them when reality demands it.

With that, I move for approval of the committee's proposal.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Lena Johansson (S)

Madam Speaker! Today we are considering the Committee on Defence's report on Society's Crisis Preparedness. I would like to begin by saying that we in the Social Democrats stand behind all our reservations, but I limit myself to moving for approval of reservation 1 and reservation 9.

This is a report concerning something of the most fundamental in the social contract, namely people's right to feel security when the unexpected occurs. Crises come, we know that. It is about climate-related extreme weather, about cyberattacks, about sabotage against infrastructure, and about pandemics – and in the worst case, about high alert and war. The question is not whether we will be tested. The question is how well prepared we are when it happens.

We Social Democrats share the view that much work has been initiated. However, in our reservations, we have pointed out that the pace and clarity need to increase. It is not enough to state that development is underway. We must ensure that it leads all the way through.

Madam Speaker! A central part of our reservations concerns the local level. It is in the municipalities that the crisis is first felt. It is there that elderly care must function during power outages, it is there that drinking water must be secured, and it is there that the rescue services must respond regardless of whether it is fire, flooding, or sabotage.

We mean that municipalities and regions need more long-term and predictable planning conditions. Project funds are short-term, and short-term initiatives do not build robustness – stable funding does. Crisis preparedness is not a temporary project. It is a permanent societal task.

We have also highlighted the need for clearer national coordination. The distribution of responsibility in civil defense must be crystal clear. When a crisis strikes, there is no room for ambiguity regarding who leads, who decides, and who is responsible.

Madam Speaker! Another important reservation concerns the role of voluntary organizations. Our country has a strong tradition of popular movements and volunteerism. It is an enormous asset, but engagement cannot be taken for granted. It must occur on reasonable terms.

The voluntary organizations are a part of the total defense. They train, exercise, and mobilize people throughout the country, and they strengthen the resilience of society. They do, however, need long-term economic conditions and a clear placement in the preparedness structure, otherwise we risk losing the strength of the civil defense just when we need it most. We have therefore signaled that the support systems for the voluntary organizations must become more sustainable over time.

We have also emphasized the importance of strengthening the protection of critical infrastructure. This applies in particular to digital infrastructure. Cyber threats are real and increasing. An attack against IT systems can paralyze healthcare, payment systems, and energy supply, and here both investments and competence supply are required. Preparedness is not just about stockpiles and shelters. It is also about knowledge, exercise, and technical resilience.

Finally, in our reservations, we have pointed out the need to strengthen preventive work, as every krona invested in preventive preparedness saves both suffering and resources when the crisis eventually occurs. This applies to climate adaptation, robust energy supply, drinking water preparedness, and stockpiling of socially important goods.

Madam Speaker! For us Social Democrats, crisis preparedness is not an abstract structural issue, but it is a question of equality and justice. It should not matter where in the country one lives – in a larger city or in a smaller municipality. Society must be there, provide protection, and be equally strong across all of Sweden.

Safety is a part of welfare. We want to see stronger and more long-term funding for municipalities and regions, clearer national coordination, and better conditions for voluntary organizations. We want to see increased investments in cybersecurity and the protection of society's infrastructure, as well as a clearer focus on preventive measures.

We do not seek conflict, but we seek improvement, because when it comes to society's crisis preparedness, there is no room to lean back. When the crisis comes, people must feel that society stands ready.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Göthberg (M)

Madam Speaker! When we today discuss the report on Sweden's crisis preparedness, we are fundamentally discussing something much larger than all the parts the report contains. It is about fireworks, rescue services, VMA and SOS Alarm, but it can be condensed into something much simpler. It is about whether our society will function when it really matters.

Today we have one of the world's most advanced societies – it is digitized, developed, and therefore also dependent. Most payments in society are made digitally, and our transports are controlled by digital systems. Our energy systems, hospitals, and authorities are among the most connected in the entire world. It is a strength, but it is also a great risk for vulnerability.

A cyberattack against payment systems can cause people to be unable to buy food. We have seen this happen before. An attack against a corporate server in some part of the country can mean that important information and personal data are wiped. An attack against the energy systems can knock out the power supply in entire regions, and an intrusion into logistics systems can stop the transport of food and medicines.

This becomes noticeably clear, not least in my own hometown of Gothenburg and in our port. It supplies all of the Nordics with goods and food and all that other stuff that is so important for ordinary people's everyday lives to function and for companies to be able to continue contributing to Swedish growth. Healthcare can be knocked out, and society can be paralyzed.

Madam Speaker! That is why cyber defense today is a central part of our robustness, resilience, and security as a country. Today, several agencies – Försvarets radioanstalt, Försvarsmakten, Säkerhetspolisen, and Myndigheten för civilt försvar – are working to strengthen Sweden's ability to detect and manage cyber threats. The technical expertise of FRA plays a particularly important role when it comes to identifying advanced threats.

For some time now, the National Cybersecurity Centre has been an integrated part of the Defence Signals Agency. This centre is to be the hub of the national cybersecurity work. We are very proud of the work being carried out there.

In February, Sweden, via the Defence Signals Agency, initiated a five-year cooperation with Ukraine in the specific area of cyber defense. The cooperation enables Sweden to contribute with so-called capacity building to Ukraine. It concerns training, exercise, methodological support, experience exchange, and information sharing to strengthen Ukraine's ability to withstand Russian cyberattacks.

At the same time, conditions are being created for us here in Sweden to draw lessons from the work that Ukraine has done to meet advanced Russian cyberattacks. These are lessons that also increase our resilience and preparedness.

Madam Speaker! Crisis preparedness, as has been said, is not just about authorities, legislation, IT solutions, and memorandums signed between Sweden and other countries. It is fundamentally about the citizens' own preparedness. We are all, each of us, an important part of the Swedish total defense and in Sweden's resilience – perhaps the most important.

For many years we lived in our country under the notion that it was the state that would solve everything once misfortune had struck, but in a larger crisis we know that it does not exclusively work that way. The authorities in Sweden are clear towards the Swedish people that every household should be able to manage on its own, without support from the state, for at least one week.

It means that one needs to think about quite simple things: to have fresh water at home, to have food that lasts, and to have a crank radio – something that at least I, born in the early 90s, can still feel is foreign. It is however very important for one's own resilience, just like flashlights and batteries – a simple emergency kit. As the Riksbank communicated yesterday, one should also have 1,000 kronor in cash at home to manage if the digital payment systems do not work.

These are not dramatic preparations. There is no alarmism in this, but it is about simple and sound common sense – an important component of the Swedish total defense.

Madam Speaker! There is also a historical perspective that it is important to be honest about when we discuss these issues in the chamber today. After the end of the Cold War, large parts of the Swedish civil defense were dismantled. Preparedness stocks were phased out, and planning was set aside. Many of the systems and much of the knowledge and experience that had been built up in this country over decades were discarded.

The disarmament defense decisions, which bore a Social Democratic character, proved to be fatal for the Swedish total defense. They were, however, made in a time when many believed that history had ended and that we lived in eternal peace, Madam Speaker. We know today that it was wrong. Therefore, the government is rebuilding the total defense again, both the military and the civil, and this is something we agree on broadly in the Swedish Riksdag. It concerns energy supply, food systems, transport, and knowledge. It concerns cyber defense and digital resilience.

I meet many school classes in my work as a Member of Parliament; it is a wonderful joy to be able to do so. When I received school classes as a newly elected Member of Parliament after the last election, I used to ask the school classes from Gothenburg if they knew what they were going to do when Hesa Fredrik sounded. The reaction was usually: Who is Hesa Fredrik, and why is he making so much noise?

Today, many of the high school students in the classes I speak with, when they visit the Riksdag or when I meet them at home in Gothenburg, know exactly what to do when they hear Hesa Fredrik. Many also already know which position they want when they perform military service, because the knowledge of total defense has grown dramatically in just a couple of years.

This is a strength we must take advantage of. The resilience in Swedish society is, in fact, the primary line of defense in this country. We see this, not least in Ukraine, a country that manages to keep its energy systems running and protect important networks and which has a people who are ready and willing to defend. Such a country is, as is well known, impossible for an enemy to break, and that is the kind of country Sweden shall be. We shall be a country that functions even when the wind blows hard.

Madam Speaker! With this, I move for approval of the committee's proposal in the report.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Hanna Gunnarsson (V)

Madam Speaker! Hello to all of you who are listening and watching at home!

Late this evening, we are debating motions in the Committee on Defence regarding the area of society's crisis preparedness. It is an annually recurring debate, and every year it feels very topical. We have had two years of pandemic, and we have had four years of war in Europe following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We live in an ongoing climate crisis, and we know that our society is subjected to cyberattacks every day. This puts our defense and our crisis preparedness to the test and requires that we continue to make investments to make society even more robust.

Madam Speaker! I believe that many of us a few years ago had some difficulty imagining what a crisis affecting the entire society – or a war in Europe – would actually mean. I also believe that the idea of having a crisis kit at home felt quite abstract for many, as did the exhortation to be able to manage for quite a long time. But now we have a completely different perspective on how vulnerable society is, and we know that we need to build society much stronger in order to be able to handle crises.

We live in a vulnerable society. Our digital systems are subjected to attacks. The infrastructure is decaying, which leads to constant disruptions in traffic. The healthcare queues are long. The vulnerability in society is also increasing due to the privatizations and cuts in large and important parts of our welfare that we unfortunately see all the time.

Privatizations make it much more difficult to govern socially important activities during a crisis. The pursuit of profit means that resources that should have gone toward building a robust society instead end up in private pockets. Therefore, it is important to bring socially important activities back into public ownership, for a more robust society and thus a stronger crisis preparedness.

Of course, the vulnerabilities include the natural disasters that are an effect of the climate crisis we live in. It is about fires, droughts, and floods. We see it both here at home and around the world, and the natural disasters remind us of the power that exists in flowing water and raging fire and the enormous devastation that this entails. In the Baltic Sea, there is also a constantly looming threat of oil spills, a threat that the Russian shadow fleet – whose ships are often in very poor condition – naturally contributes to.

This past winter, we have seen very large amounts of snow and very serious weather in large parts of the country. These weather events and natural disasters risk the functionality of society. They cause extensive damage to property, cause environmental destruction, and in the worst cases, also affect people's health and lives. Society must therefore be climate-adapted to a much higher degree than today.

After every crisis, we need to build society stronger to be able to meet the next crisis. We must learn from what happens and not forget it, and that applies to both us as individuals and society. We must constantly strengthen resilience. Instead, we see how cuts continue and that the necessary maintenance of infrastructure is not being done. It is a recipe for poorer crisis preparedness, not better.

It is also important that crisis preparedness reaches everyone in our society. It is incredibly important that everyone can access information about crises, preparations for crises, and how to handle serious matters. The information must be accessible to everyone in a way that allows them to access it. This applies to people with disabilities being able to access websites, information materials, press conferences, and other initiatives on streets and squares in a way that suits them. The authorities must ensure this, and the government must issue such mandates.

Municipalities and regions have a huge responsibility to plan so that activities such as healthcare, elderly care, and preschools can continue to operate even in times of crisis. This requires economic resources, preparations, cooperation, and knowledge enhancement. But if the staff are on their knees already when the situation in society is relatively calm – if the staff are already exhausted or understaffed – we will not be able to scale up in the way that is needed during a crisis.

We need to have fully funded healthcare and elderly care moving forward, where the staff have higher wages, better working conditions and time for further education. More people must want to train for care professions and have the strength to stay in the job all the way to retirement. More people must feel pride in going to work every day. Margins are needed to be able to handle a crisis, and if it is anything that is needed if society falls into crisis, it is healthcare and care.

Madam Speaker! The work to reintroduce civil service in Sweden is moving forward, for which the government should be commended. The authorities are now also planning for basic training to be introduced in the civil service, and we in Vänsterpartiet think that is very good. It is also very important that people continue to organize in voluntary defense organizations and that there is a voluntary resource group in every municipality. It provides great resources that can be activated during crises.

Everyone has a common responsibility to ensure that our society is strong and resilient, and from the Left Party's side, we naturally want to remind that egalitarian societies where people plan, finance, and carry out things together are strong societies. During a crisis, one sees that helpfulness and solidarity increase – people have a fundamental will to help each other when things happen.

Madam Speaker! When one reads this report, one sees how many different things are affected by crisis preparedness. It is everything from climate adaptation to fire safety and fireworks. Vänsterpartiet naturally has several different proposals in the area.

A proposal concerns the ownership of the rescue services. We want to see an investigation into moving the ownership from the municipal to the state level. Most rescue services are today linked in various forms of associations, which means that the rescue service is in practice no longer municipal.

We also want the government to investigate how the concept of civil responder, i.e., a person who can quickly arrive on site at, for example, accidents, can be used more.

Another of our motions from previous years concerns housing policy. We demand better fire safety in multi-family buildings. Every year, 90 people die due to residential fires in Sweden. Particularly vulnerable are those who are elderly, those who are ill, and those who have a disability. Fires in homes can easily be prevented by ensuring that all apartments have functioning smoke detectors that are tested regularly. It is a very simple measure that saves lives.

Madam Speaker! I would like to move for approval of two reservations in the report: number 2 and number 9.

Reservation number 2 concerns fireworks. They can be a source of joy in the right context, but they also have a downside for people, animals, and the environment. They cause injuries and fires and litter both in cities and in nature. And every year, a hundred people are injured so seriously by fireworks that they need to seek medical care. There is also a risk that the gunpowder in the fireworks can be used in criminal activities.

Vänsterpartiet does not want to see a total ban, but we want only trained pyrotechnicians to be allowed to handle fireworks and that sales to the general public should not be permitted. This would reduce risks and discomfort but still enable fireworks to be used at New Year's and a few other special occasions. It is time for Sweden to take a step to reduce the use of fireworks and firecrackers.

Reservation number 9 concerns, as I mentioned earlier in the speech, the need to reach out with information about crisis preparedness in as many different ways as possible, so that the entire population can access the information in the way they can and need to.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mikael Larsson (C)

Madam Speaker! Crises come, and crises go. That is how it has always been, and it will be so in the future as well. We will have to live with crises and must constantly work to make it easier to cope with them.

Madam Speaker! The Centre Party has for many years noted that Swedish emergency services need to be developed so that everyone living in Sweden, in cities and in the countryside, can feel the same sense of security and safety. Today, it varies depending on where in the country one lives.

For many years, it has been difficult to recruit part-time firefighters, especially in rural areas. However, there are good examples of municipalities that have succeeded in broadening their recruitment with the help of simple methods. These good examples should be spread so that they can be emulated in other parts of the country. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency should, in cooperation with SKR, do more to highlight and spread these good examples and talk about how one can succeed with the recruitment of part-time firefighters throughout the country.

One thing that can occasionally hinder a rapid response if the worst happens is that it is not always the nearest rescue service station that responds when something happens. It should be the proximity principle that applies. For example, administrative or geographical boundaries should not put a spoke in the wheel of that.

Madam Speaker! The government also needs to take greater responsibility to ensure that the municipalities have the legal tools they need to ensure that more people educate themselves within the rescue services and to become firefighters. Today, training of rescue service personnel primarily takes place through the training that the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency provides at various levels.

It is important for equality in the country that training within the rescue services is provided to the extent that corresponds to the municipalities' needs for trained personnel. By creating more training places for firefighters, the state presence around the country is also increased. Not least the specialist competencies of firefighters and rescue leaders when it comes to fighting large forest fires can need to be developed and increased.

The Center Party wants, just as several other speakers have said, to welcome the good work that the government has initiated to reactivate the civil obligation within the municipal rescue services.

Madam Speaker! I mentioned good examples earlier. I would therefore like to highlight the rescue services in Ljungby, in Kronobergs län, where, precisely in order to staff the local fire stations around the municipality, they have sought help from local LRF, Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund, in the municipal district. It is when the public and the civil sector cooperate that we succeed in achieving results and increase resilience.

Madam Speaker! Drones have become an increasingly important tool for the rescue services, which can be used before and during various operations. But they could be used to an even greater extent. With drones, the rescue services can more quickly and smoothly obtain an overview of a potential operation area, more easily locate a forest fire, and more quickly find out where an accident has occurred if it is on a long road without mobile coverage. Drones can also be equipped with, for example, defibrillators and reach a person with cardiac arrest before, for example, a departing fire engine or emergency vehicle. In the current situation, however, the rescue services' possibilities to use drones are surrounded by too much bureaucracy and high costs.

Madam Speaker! I want to emphasize that this committee report is about society's crisis preparedness. But at the same time, we are working on building up the total defense. The buildup of the total defense and society's crisis preparedness must not be pitted against each other. Both are needed.

Total defense is all the activities that take place throughout the country to prepare us for a safer society if war, the worst-case scenario, were to occur. In crisis preparedness, we perhaps more frequently include forest fires, floods, bus accidents, and much more.

The concepts of crisis preparedness together with civil defense and total defense in general must not be pitted against each other. We must be able to work with both parts. They truly belong together.

Madam Speaker! Sweden is today subjected to cyberattacks with geopolitical, economic and defense purposes by state actors or state-supported actors. Often they are both anonymous and deniable, and there is an obvious risk that they will get away with it and neither be exposed nor punished for their actions.

The cost for aggressive state-sponsored cyber activities against Sweden must be raised, and significantly. The Center Party believes that Sweden should more often and more clearly speak out and mark its position against the cyberattacks we are subjected to. The Center Party also believes that it is high time that we are able to meet the threats that come and act in a much tougher way. It is part of our country's resilience to act when we are subjected to attacks in the cyber domain.

Sweden also needs to have the ability to quickly protect important assets and track, disrupt, and strike back against attackers. Today, the Armed Forces do a great job when it comes to that. The Centre Party thinks it is important and good, but given the digital societal development, it should of course be developed. Cyber competence in society must also be broadened and increased. We see, among other things, the universities of applied sciences as an important part of that work.

Madam Speaker! In war and crises, the public support, the will to defend, and the resilience are perhaps the most important things. We see when larger crises arise how civil society and local communities all around the country step up and want to be involved and help. We have seen it during the forest fires and floods that have occurred, we see it when snowstorms occur, and we truly saw it during the pandemic.

It is truly important here that the entire society acts and works together – the public sector, the business community and, of course, also civil society. This naturally also includes the voluntary defense organizations. But more cooperation was needed and, of course, investments to involve the entire population in the work of building up the total defense and crisis preparedness. In this work, folk education, the church, community centers such as village halls and perhaps even the non-profit sports clubs have an immensely important part.

Madam Speaker! I move for approval of the Centerpartiet's reservation number 6.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jacob Risberg (MP)

Madam Speaker! The issue of crisis preparedness has become increasingly important, as society's ability to meet crises of varying types must be improved. This concerns society's ability to handle everything from water supply and pandemics to cybersecurity, forest fires, and floods. Added to this are the questions regarding the work at the EU level and how many resources we need to invest to prepare for different types of crises.

Madam Speaker! Let me begin by touching upon the terrible war that is ongoing in Europe. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has now lasted for over four years. It is not only about Ukraine's right to self-determination and freedom. It is also about Sweden's freedom and Europe's freedom. Ukraine therefore needs all the support that can be given. On that point, I and Miljöpartiet are pleased with the total support that exists among the Swedish people.

It is not only because the Ukrainians are skilled on the battlefield that they have managed to hold out against Russia as well as they have, despite everything. It is also about the fact that the civil defense has been incredibly strong in Ukraine. Very large parts of society have, despite the war raging, continued to function in some way.

It is undoubtedly the case that this serious security policy situation means that we must prepare for society to be able to handle a number of different crises. Civil defense must therefore continue to be developed and strengthened.

Madam Speaker! It is not only that we find ourselves in a more serious security policy situation. We are also faced with climate change, which is undoubtedly the defining issue of our time. That we see changes as a result of a changed climate is obvious. When the climate changes, Sweden is affected in several different ways, including by us experiencing longer periods of drought and more heavy rainfall, which can lead to floods, collapses, and landslides. We also see that heatwaves are becoming more frequent and longer. Furthermore, in the long run, we are affected by the rising sea levels that result from melting ice and warmed oceans. It is obvious that our preparedness to handle the consequences of climate change in the entire society must be strengthened.

To protect people and important infrastructure, physical planning needs to be adapted to these effects. Society must be built resiliently. In order for Sweden to be able to carry out effective work with climate adaptation, the responsibility between different actors must, however, be clarified. The work must not be delayed due to unclear distribution of responsibility. County Administrative Boards and municipalities are key actors in the climate adaptation work and must receive clearer frameworks and the resources required.

Furthermore, both coordination and knowledge dissemination must be strengthened. Among other things, authorities must be trained on climate-related risks. Municipalities must be tasked with mapping and documenting climate-related risks, and public buildings must be climate-proofed. The work on climate adaptation must simply be improved so that Sweden will be better equipped to face the consequences of the climate crisis. Clear requirements and proposals on what can be done better must be developed. The committee majority with the Tidö parties respond briefly that they think enough is being done. We from Miljöpartiet do not think so.

Madam Speaker! Another issue within the climate area concerns natural disasters and rising seas. The National Audit Office has established in a report that it is difficult to finance the measures that the authorities and municipalities are to plan for, and that the short-sightedness in the state's financing complicates the important planning of long-term interventions. In addition to this are investments in measures to prevent damage from, for example, heavy rainfall and health risks during heatwaves.

Of course, it may seem like large amounts to take preventive measures, but this must be put into relation with what the cost will be if nothing is done and one has to pay dearly for the damages during, for example, a flood. Miljöpartiet believes that the issue of financing protection against rising seas should be investigated and that different financing solutions should be developed. One could, for example, develop a separate climate adaptation step similar to the climate step that already exists.

Madam Speaker! Within the EU, important work is also ongoing in the area of crisis preparedness. Miljöpartiet believes that Sweden should push to increase the common crisis preparedness in the EU. The EU needs to strengthen its defense capacity due to the security policy situation. It is absolutely crucial. The EU should create the conditions for an increased total defense capability in the union rather than constitute a platform for military cooperation.

In a time and in a society that is increasingly characterized by cyberattacks, attacks on democracy and freedom of speech, climate change and pandemics, increased crisis preparedness and more investments in a green, sustainable and long-term civil defense are required. We need to future-proof the EU's crisis preparedness. We also want to further strengthen the EU's civil protection cooperation, so that crisis cooperation between member states becomes more flexible and rapid in handling large-scale emergencies.

The EU's self-sufficiency regarding important and necessary products must increase so that we can withstand future crisis situations. This concerns food, medicines, critical raw materials, and important technology for the green and digital transition. The committee majority thinks that enough is being done, but I do not share that opinion. I think it would be good if the Riksdag sent a clear signal to the government that more must be done, not least to ensure the availability of critical goods.

Madam Speaker! The Coast Guard has a particularly important role in environmental monitoring and the protection of the coasts when it comes to acting in cases of oil spills and ensuring that important cables are not destroyed. The Swedish Customs Service has an important role in maintaining safety, countering terrorism, and detecting dangers in a timely manner. These two agencies are, together with the police, dependent on each other's expertise and efforts. The Green Party therefore believes that both the Coast Guard and the Swedish Customs Service should receive more financial resources in order to be able to cooperate more closely in order to respond to the broadened threat landscape against Sweden.

Madam Speaker! I also want to point out our demand to the government to review the crisis preparedness for persons with disabilities to ensure that all important information as well as society's support and help is made available to them in the event of a crisis or disaster. This demand is in a joint reservation that we have from Miljöpartiet together with S, V and C.

Madam Speaker! I naturally stand behind all of the Miljöpartiets reservations but move for approval only of reservation 13 and reservation 15.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 11 March.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)