Response to interpellation 2022/23:181 on the work against invasive alien species
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L argues that the work against invasive alien species is a priority issue 1 2. L emphasizes that preventive work is most cost-effective 1 2 and that the government is investing 50 million kronor in marine and aquatic environments 1 2 3 4. L considers that the work against invasive alien species is a major and serious threat to biodiversity 4. L points out that Naturvårdsverket can prioritize how they distribute the funds 1 4. S argues that the government's cuts mean that previous investments are lost 5 6 and that the money to combat invasive species on state land is decreasing to zero kronor 5. S argues that the government's policy does not prioritize the work 5. S expresses concern about whether Sweden lives up to the EU regulation 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! Joakim Järrebring has asked me if I agree that invasive alien species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and if I intend to take any measures in the area. Joakim Järrebring has also asked me what reasons underlie the removed funding for the work against invasive alien species on state land.
I can assure Joakim Järrebring that the continued work against invasive alien species is an area that the government prioritizes.
As appears from our regulatory letter to the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management for the year 2023, 50 million kronor may be used specifically for the work against invasive alien species. The initiative clearly shows that the work is a priority issue for me and for the government.
Madam Speaker! In view of the economic situation and the high inflation, the government had to present a tight budget for 2023. The budget does not contain a specific reduction of the funds for precisely the work against invasive alien species.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has decided on how the reductions of the funds for the nature conservation area shall be distributed among the different measures that can be financed via the relevant appropriation in the budget. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has indicated that the funds that will be allocated to the work against invasive alien species will amount to just over 30 million kronor during 2023.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to my interpellation. In his answer, the Minister for Climate and the Environment emphasizes that the work against invasive alien species is a priority area for the government. As an argument for this, the Minister points to the regulatory letter to the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, where the government concedes that the agency may use 50 million kronor for its work against invasive alien species in seas and waterways. But then the Minister also notes that the budget cuts in the nature conservation area have consequences for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's conditions in the work against invasive alien species on state land. So far, the Minister and I agree on which funds will de facto be allocated to the work against invasive alien species on state land.
Madam Speaker! I believe it is important to supplement the picture painted by the Minister for Climate and the Environment with some additional facts for those listening to the debate.
Firstly, the work with combating invasive species takes a long time. A well-established stock takes several years to remove. The work is often intensive during the first five years to then subside to smaller interventions for many years ahead. The investments must therefore be long-term and be carried out over 10-20 years if they are to have any effect at all.
Secondly, the cuts that the government has chosen to make will mean that the investments made during the few years when there were action funds will largely be wasted unless more money is provided.
For the third, the county administrative boards, which have the operational role in the work against invasive alien species, will continue to have funds for the coordination of the work, but no funds for measures. The county administrative boards will therefore need to give up the fight against certain species.
For the fourth, the appropriation for the protection of valuable nature 2023 is reduced by 32 percent compared to 2022. It is a reduction of 550 million kronor, according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. When it comes to the management of valuable nature, the appropriation is reduced by 45 percent compared to 2022. It is a reduction of 931 million kronor. The result is that the money for combating invasive species goes from 55 million kronor to 0 kronor and that no new municipal projects will be able to be granted LONA grants except for wetlands.
Madam Speaker! In summary, I believe it is difficult for anyone outside the Tidö parties' offices to share the Minister for Climate and Environment's view that these substantial cuts and their effects would characterize a policy that prioritizes the work against invasive alien species.
Madam Speaker! I also want us to take the opportunity today to discuss the constant drumbeat from the government regarding the economic situation and the high inflation. I and the Social Democrats share the government's view that in this situation, it is not possible to pursue a policy that further fuels inflation. But I believe that this drumbeat is rather used by government representatives to avoid taking responsibility for the priorities they have made and the policy they pursue. I want to give the Minister the opportunity to explain who forced her and the government to make cuts of over 1,400 million kronor on the protection and preservation of valuable nature and forced her and the government to lower the tax for the people with the highest incomes in Sweden at a cost of 13,000 million kronor.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! I welcome Joakim Järrebring's great interest in the work against invasive alien species. As I mentioned, this work is prioritized for this government. We see that the introduction and spread of alien species constitutes a serious threat to biological diversity.
In the work with the management of invasive alien species, it is the preventive work that is the most cost-effective. Measures that prevent introduction are obviously to be preferred. Such work has been carried out and shows effect. The authorities' work in producing and disseminating information and providing guidance to those concerned is very important. The concerned can be municipalities, private landowners and entrepreneurs within a number of industries. There are also many different ways for the public's knowledge to contribute to a reduction of the spread that occurs through, for example, careless handling of certain invasive alien species. Early interventions and early detection are a very cost-effective way to continue the work that needs to be carried out to prevent the spread of invasive alien species.
One can, of course, speak about the reduction that is now being made to the appropriation within this area, but one should not do so without mentioning the government's initiative to counteract invasive alien species in aquatic environments. 50 million kronor will be available for use for this purpose during 2023. This should also be seen in light of the fact that precisely that work is particularly difficult. Mapping the occurrence and obtaining a good picture of the situation in our marine environments requires an effort such as the one this government is now making.
Madam Speaker! Many of us here in the chamber can stand behind the fact that it is in demand. It will be able to contribute to a better environment in our marine and water areas.
We have an important condition to fulfill with these different measures. We have an important task to perform to counteract the spread of invasive alien species in Sweden.
We have a Swedish regulation. In addition to that, we have a common EU regulation. We work in different ways from different governments on the work that needs to be carried out. We are doing the special initiative on the marine and water environment. But not all important work requires special budget initiatives.
There are new regulations to wait for regarding designated invasive alien species of special national importance, which we look forward to being presented by Naturvårdsverket and Havs- och vattenmyndigheten shortly.
I look forward to looking at that result. We will see what these provisions look like, Madam Speaker. I am sure that one will find important tools there in the continued work to reduce the threat from invasive alien species.
It is simply not true as is claimed that no work is now being carried out regarding Sweden's protection against invasive alien species. The Government has a specific initiative even within this area.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! If there is no disagreement. My interpellation concerns the work against invasive alien species on state land.
It is clear that it is very important, as the minister points out, that private property owners and municipalities do their work and fulfill their obligations to work against invasive alien species. That is good. It is also good that investments are being made when it comes to the marine environment.
But that is not what the interpellation is about. It is the work against invasive alien species on state land. I can understand that the Minister wants to speak about other things than specifically the fight against invasive species on state land, given the budget resources.
Invasive alien species do not contribute to greater diversity, which one might be misled to believe. It is as both I and the minister noted, the biggest problem. It constitutes the greatest threat to precisely biological diversity.
Often, invasive species reproduce effectively and grow rapidly, and they lack natural enemies. They can cause native species to die out and entire ecosystems to be disrupted. In the long run, this can threaten functions of ecosystems that we and our society are completely dependent on.
It is difficult to estimate all the costs for invasive alien species. But within the EU, the costs are estimated to be around 134 billion kronor per year.
When the government makes substantial savings in the environmental area to lower taxes for the very richest, the alternative costs are not included in the calculation. We do not know what the actual costs of the government's policy will be.
Madam Speaker! We know that the cuts in the environmental area are not a saving when we take into account what costs they entail for the environment. This applies to biological effects but also to economically negative effects.
I would very much like the Minister to make an attempt to answer the questions in my original interpellation, specifically with a focus on the work of combating invasive alien species on state land.
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! There is much to say about this issue. I am glad that I and Member Järrebring are united in the view that it is very important and needs to be addressed. The problem with invasive alien species can be addressed in different ways.
The previous investments made have certainly done very good. We are now looking forward at what needs exist to safeguard our nature and environment in as wise a way as possible.
Our common climate and environmental policy within the government cooperation is based on the idea of stewardship. It strives to find cost-effective measures that do not harm our industries and our countryside. In that case, work must be carried out to counteract the spread of invasive alien species.
As Member Järrebring highlights, there are calculations on what the costs for these damages will be and how large they will be. There are, as the Member mentions, calculations at the EU level. Let me also explain how it looks in Sweden.
One can, of course, only make an attempt to estimate the value of the costs resulting from the damage caused by invasive alien species. It is a cost estimated at 1.65 billion kronor per year in Sweden. It is, of course, a problem that needs to be addressed and a serious threat to our biological diversity.
Madam Speaker! As I have previously mentioned, preventive work is the most cost-effective. It is the most effective way to work against the spread of invasive alien species. We are very keen to carry out such work in a sensible way. We do this by introducing targeted measures against individual species and strengthening our authorities' ability to implement measures where they are most effective.
In that way, we intend to work to counteract the spread of invasive alien species on state land. This can be done through specific initiatives. If we look, for example, at initiatives that occur from the state level and on state roads, we have our initiative directed towards marine and aquatic environments.
In addition, work needs to be carried out in harmony with all those who are affected. It is simply a matter of preventing the introduction and spread. In that case, it is a matter of having good cooperation with county administrative boards, municipalities and others. It is about counteracting the spread of invasive alien species in our country through information.
That is exactly what the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management have been tasked to do. They shall coordinate the work and, in the best possible way, include authorities, municipalities, and the public in how the regulations are designed and how they are to be applied.
County Administrative Boards have a responsibility to take rapid eradication measures, and there is support for that work from the state level. Of course, specific initiatives are important. But in these times of tight budgets, it is of the utmost importance that we spend the money on the initiatives we undertake.
It is there that we find them most effective and where they contribute most to an ambitious and effective environmental policy. It is precisely an investment in work against invasive alien species in marine and aquatic environments that the government has chosen to prioritize in this budget.
Joakim Järrebring (S)
Madam Speaker! I share the Minister's view. So do all those who have read up on the subject. Preventive measures are the most cost-effective.
Just as I said in my first speech, it takes a very long time once we have an establishment of an invasive alien species to deal with the problem. The money for the measures that have been financed so far is, so to speak, thrown into the lake when there is no continued funding to continue fighting the invasive alien species.
In the county administrative boards around the country, the concern is great. For some years, yellow skunkcress in Fylleån has been actively combated. Fylleån is a protected so-called Natura 2000 area. That work is now being discontinued because there is no longer any money for measures. Now, the skunkcress risks spreading again both along Fylleån but also onto private properties located near the watercourse. This we have been able to hear from the County Administrative Board in Halland.
In recent years, species such as common toadflax, giant hogweed, yellow archangel, and Japanese knotweed have been controlled on a large scale in Västra Götaland County, where I come from. With the new budget, there is no longer any room, and one must settle for a few individual smaller interventions. That is what we have been able to hear from the County Administrative Board in Västra Götaland.
From the County Administrative Board in Skåne, we hear that many measures that have been taken risk going to waste because the invasive plants can take over areas that were previously managed, for example, orchid meadows.
Does the Minister share my concern and wonder as to whether Sweden will at all live up to the EU regulation on invasive alien species with these draconian reductions in the protection and safeguarding of valuable nature?
Statsrådet Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to Member Järrebring for his great interest in this truly important issue for our natural environment and for our biodiversity!
We need to carry out this work in a wise manner. As I pointed out in my first speech, the government will prioritize this work to counteract the spread of alien invasive species in various ways.
We have a special initiative of 50 million kronor that is to be used for the work against invasive alien species, and Naturvårdsverket has announced that the work they perform against these species will be financed with 30 million kronor during 2023.
The reduction of the funds in appropriation 1:3, expenditure area 20, which means measures for valuable nature, is at 45 percent. It is therefore an appropriation that is decreasing. This appropriation is used for very many different measures, including the control of invasive alien species.
Naturvårdsverket, which manages the appropriation, has the opportunity to prioritize how they wish to distribute the reductions across the areas of activity funded via the appropriation. According to what Naturvårdsverket has highlighted in dialogue with the Government Offices, 19 million kronor will go to county administrative boards via discretionary rights and 12-14 million kronor to Jägareförbundet and to their projects involving work against invasive alien species.
I hope that we, in all ways we can, beyond specific budget initiatives, can work to prudently safeguard our biological diversity and counteract the spread of invasive alien species. I truly share Member Järrebrink's opinion that this is a major and serious threat to our biological diversity.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.