Response to interpellation 2025/26:352 on the government's crisis preparedness for faster warming
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the government's crisis preparedness for faster global warming and loss of biodiversity. L argues that the government is working purposefully with the Kunming–Montreal framework and has presented a national strategy for climate adaptation 1. L emphasizes historically large investments in wetlands, marine environments, and nature protection 2 3. L underlines that the work on climate adaptation is carried out horizontally through agencies and county administrative boards 2 3. S argues that ecosystem collapse constitutes a direct security threat and requires a broader vulnerability analysis of society's dependence on nature 4. S believes that the government has allowed the work to stall and demands proactive action to secure food supply and the economy 5 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.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! Jytte Guteland has asked the Minister for Climate and the Environment what measures she and the government are preparing in light of the fact that global warming is occurring faster and that the depletion of biodiversity is worse than we previously thought.
The work within the government is distributed in such a way that it is I who shall answer the interpellation, an interpellation for which I naturally thank you.
Let me begin by stating that the government takes the ongoing loss of biodiversity seriously and is therefore working purposefully to contribute to the goals in the Kunming–Montreal framework, which we played a central role in negotiating in 2022. The effects of climate change on our societies and ecosystems are already being felt, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
In March 2024, the government presented a national strategy and action plan for climate adaptation. There, we describe the consequences and challenges in Sweden of a changed climate and state the direction for the national work with climate adaptation. In accordance with the action plan, the government continues to work towards strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and utilizing ecosystem services in the climate adaptation work.
In May 2025, the government received the Climate Adaptation Inquiry's report Better Conditions for Climate Adaptation (SOU 2025:5). The report contains a number of proposals for more effective climate adaptation work, which are now being prepared within the Government Offices.
The Government has made several initiatives to protect and restore ecosystems. For example, we have today historically large initiatives to rewet drained wetlands to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and promote biodiversity. We have also presented a marine environment bill (prop. 2023/24:156), the first marine environment policy direction bill in 15 years, where we have, among other things, included the goal to protect 30 percent of the marine areas by 2030.
When the Kunming–Montreal framework was adopted in 2022, it was decided that the parties should update their national strategies. On 5 February 2026, the government therefore decided on a new Swedish strategy and action plan for biodiversity and ecosystem services, which shows how Sweden contributes to the framework's goals. The government simultaneously decided on a new interim target regarding wild pollinators as well as an updated interim target regarding urban greenery, which contributes to both biodiversity and climate adaptation.
The Government's strategy for biodiversity shows how we work to strengthen our nature and species richness, but it also shows the resilience of our food supply, our economy, and our well-being.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to the interpellation.
Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security is a recently released report produced by the British government. In it, it is established that the crisis for biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems are not only environmental problems but also security threats.
This security assessment, which was presented and released in January this year, states that loss of biodiversity and ecosystem collapse constitute direct threats to national security. It identifies a collapse in critical ecosystems as a risk multiplier that fuels conflicts, migration, and supply chain disruptions.
Against this background, I and many with me note that we also need to do much more in Sweden to understand the risks we face. Basic societal functions are threatened by all the natural crises that are currently affecting the world.
Recently, the EU's climate science council released a report with the message that all of Europe must prepare for the risk that the temperature will increase by three degrees in the next century. The report states that current measures are insufficient, and it recommends a harmonized climate adaptation with larger risk assessments, increased resilience in infrastructure, and funding to quickly prevent rising economic and physical risks in Europe.
It can also be said that the climate crisis with extreme weather has already cost Europe more than 450 billion a year. We have, therefore, already been hit very hard by global warming.
Svenskt Näringsliv recently published the report From risk and resource dependence to resilience. They urge Sweden to take this seriously. One of the proposals in the report is that Sweden and the government should develop a vulnerability analysis of society's and the economy's dependence on nature.
Is acting Minister for Climate and Environment Britz interested in producing such a vulnerability analysis for Sweden? It is clearly needed, and in the current security situation and with the unemployment that the country is currently affected by, there are many reasons to take a broader approach to the natural risks that affect our globe and which are also direct threats to Sweden.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! Ensuring robust ecosystems and a large biodiversity creates a resilience against ongoing climate changes. Sweden is no exception to the rest of the world, and the effects of climate changes are already felt today. The Government has therefore made a number of interventions to strengthen Sweden's resilience against climate changes. As an example, we have, as I mentioned, developed a national strategy and action plan for climate adaptation. We have also made record-breaking investments in wetland restoration, which helps to regulate water flows and counteract floods and droughts. We have also strengthened the protection of our seas, which I mentioned in my answer.
Regarding climate adaptation, the government presented a national strategy and action plan in March 2024, where we specify the direction for the national work on climate adaptation. The government's strategy shall facilitate that preventive measures are carried out faster but also contribute to producing better underlying data and analyses that shall form the basis for decisions at different levels in our society.
There are 32 authorities and all 21 county administrative boards responsible for the work on climate adaptation. SMHI has been commissioned by the government to review the climate adaptation ordinance in order to develop the requirements for the authorities' work for a more socio-economically efficient, strategic, and action-oriented climate adaptation. SGI has been commissioned to map historical costs of landslides, avalanches, erosion, and flooding so that we can make a better assessment of the benefits and costs of various climate adaptation measures.
As I mentioned, the government received the report from the Climate Adaptation Inquiry in May 2025, which contains a number of proposals for more effective climate adaptation work. This is now being prepared within the Government Offices.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to the interpellation and for his contribution.
In the answer, some proposals are taken up, and we agree when it comes to the rewetting of lands and that one must, of course, respect nature and EU legislation. But my question concerns a broader and more horizontal protection of nature in order to avoid the crises we would otherwise be hit by.
The British intelligence service has participated in producing a report that points to direct threats to security in both the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe if one does not act resolutely and both adapt to the climate and work with environmental and climate policy in a proactive way.
Sweden has received much criticism for its environmental and climate policy because the government has allowed the work to stall. But the organization Svenskt Näringsliv is pushing the government to do much more, and in its report, they point out that they want to see a vulnerability analysis when it comes to natural risks. They want Sweden and the government to be leading and do this.
In the report, Svenskt Näringsliv writes that over half of the world's GDP is directly linked to nature. If nature and its services are weakened or even collapse, it therefore affects not only nature but also the economy and, like, society's ability to function.
These are words and not songs, and it is a very clear message that the minister's two portfolios are connected. The Minister for Employment as well as the Minister for Climate and Environment should therefore take action and fight unemployment, strengthen Swedish companies, and reduce global warming at the same time. It is very important to take advantage of the fact that the minister has both of these portfolios. Even though the failure in both portfolios is very clear, one can in this situation make use of the fact that the minister works with both parts.
We already see today that nature is suffering and that the nature crisis is here. Common goods such as chocolate, cocoa, coffee and olive oil have already become more expensive due to climate change. This is due, among other things, to extreme heat and irregular precipitation in, among other places, West Africa. Food prices are expected to continue to rise due to a warmer and more unstable climate, and fruit and vegetables risk becoming much more expensive in the future due to temperature fluctuations.
All this makes it relevant that the government needs to link security policy with environmental and climate policy and not just talk about individual matters and silos. The government must understand that if the Swedish people's opportunity for livelihood, safety, and security is to be secured, one must act much more proactively regarding environmental and climate policy.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! As I mentioned in my previous contribution, there are 32 authorities and all 21 county administrative boards responsible for working with climate adaptation in different ways. It is not only in silos but also horizontally.
Let me elaborate a bit on two other things I mentioned in my introduction, namely wetlands and the marine environment.
The government has made several initiatives to protect and restore ecosystems, and we are making historically large investments in rewetting drained wetlands to reduce carbon dioxide and promote biodiversity. In the government's budget for 2026, a new initiative was also presented for the rewetting of abandoned agricultural land, as a complement to today's support for rewetting. In the same budget, we have also decided on funds for the Swedish Forest Agency to provide information and advice to forest owners on how they can increase carbon sequestration and strengthen biodiversity.
The government has also presented a marine environment bill, the first since 2009, for increased protection of marine areas, reduced eutrophication, and sustainable fishing. The work to implement the measures in the bill is extremely important to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity at sea. During the mandate period, the government has also decided on the formation of Sweden's first marine national park in the Baltic Sea, Nämdöskärgårdens nationalpark. We have also presented measures to reduce eutrophication and introduced a specific milestone towards eutrophication. We will also introduce a general ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas inside the trawling limit from July 1, 2026.
Jytte Guteland (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. I do not intend to go into polemics with the Minister regarding individual measures that the government has presented. Several of them have indeed been added due to the opposition's demands or due to EU processes where Sweden is obliged to act. That which concerns the wetlands is very good, just like the strengthening of the maritime policy and the fisheries policy, where the opposition has been very insistent in order to achieve a stronger protection of the ecosystems.
What I am raising in my interpellation here today is something much larger. It is about crises that risk our entire security, the large supply chains for food supply, and the Swedish people's ability to cope in times of crisis. It is about connecting global warming and the natural crises that the world is experiencing today with our everyday lives here in Sweden now and in the future.
What we see right now from both the British intelligence service and the EU's scientific climate council are reports that are adequate. They are properly warning reports, and it is very rare that such reports are wrong. They speak of three degrees of warming. It is not a slightly changed life we will get here in Sweden then, but it will become great concerns for our food supply and for ordinary Swedes' lives.
I therefore urge the government to listen to the reports and to ensure that a broad, horizontal analysis is conducted of the natural crises and how these affect security moving forward.
Arbetsmarknadsminister och vikarierande klimat- och miljöministern Johan Britz (L)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank Jytte Guteland for this discussion. Much of what we are talking about regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services is about the government working consciously to contribute to the goals in the Kunming–Montreal framework, which we played a central role in negotiating in 2022.
The government's new strategy and action plan for biodiversity and ecosystem services shows how Sweden contributes to the framework's goals. The government's action plan shows how we translate global goals into concrete policy. A part of the strategy highlights precisely the protection of natural areas, where the government annually during the period 2024–2026 invests 500 million kronor to increase the pace of protecting valuable nature through compensation to property owners so that new nature reserves can be formed.
In addition, we shall remind ourselves of the government's national strategy and action plan for climate adaptation, where we specify the direction for the national work on climate adaptation. It is an important task. Temperatures will become higher. We need to both reduce emissions and adapt to a somewhat different climate.
Thank you very much for this discussion!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.