22 February 2022
Swedish politicians continue to pile into cleantech
Climateview is aimed at cities, municipalities or regions that want to see how they can plan and achieve their climate goals in an effective way. The company, which is backed by Klarna founder Niklas Adalberth, amongst others, released its service, which was developed with the help of the Climate Policy Council, in March last year.
Climateview says that 80 different cities have already joined the service, including Umeå, Helsingborg and Uppsala, and international cities such as Newcastle, Bern and Dortmund. To continue the work of attracting additional international clients, the company is now hiring two new board members. Profiles that now take a seat on the board are the former spokesperson for the Green Party, Maria Wetterstrand, who is currently CEO of the consulting firm Miltton, and Lisen Schultz, a researcher at Stockholm University and founder of the Pontus Schultz Foundation for a more humane business.
CIP invests in Welsh wind and solar developer
The Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners IV K/S fund recently announced that they will invest in Bute Energy’s portfolio of onshore wind and solar projects, which is estimated to reach a total installed capacity of over 2 GW by 2030. The first projects are expected to enter construction in 2024. Bute Energy’s first onshore wind planning application will be submitted this summer and regards the Twyn Hywel energy park, situated in Southeast Wales.
Sweden’s forest industry calls on the Government to change species protection law
The new application of the Species Protection Ordinance may mean that all acts that may cause a bird to be disturbed or injured are prohibited. In practice, this means that any use of land, water and air in Sweden is affected since the same strict protection that today applies to the endangered golden eagle also applies to a crow. With such an interpretation, it is uncertain whether any changes in nature are possible at all, while large parts of forestry risk becoming impossible. Representatives from the forest industry now call on the Government to change the ordinance before Sweden stops functioning.
“Time is short. The Government must act. Otherwise, all activities that may have an impact on birds risk being eliminated which will have enormous consequences for the Swedish economy for a long time to come”, stated forest industry representatives.
The Government’s action plan for plastics deemed insufficient
On 21 February, the Government presented a national plan for plastics in a circular economy, containing 55 measures. Although many welcome the Government’s initiative, it is at the same time deemed insufficient and is, among other things, missing three key areas: chemical recycling, quota obligation and milestones.
“Almost all plastic becomes waste, sooner or later. Despite this, the Government has introduced a tax on waste incineration whilst we have a ban on landfilling of combustible and biogenic waste. It is time to abolish the tax and introduce a fee on all fossil-based plastic that is placed on the Swedish market, enable deductions for the plastic that is reused and use the fee to reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste”, wrote Eva Rydegran, Press Officer at Swedenergy.
Lyko removes all fossil delivery options in Sweden
As the first e-retailer in Sweden, Lyko is now abolishing all delivery alternatives that are not fossil-free and is now hoping that other companies will follow their example to accelerate the green transition. To commit to the goal of fossil-free deliveries, all transporters have agreed to donate SEK 500 to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation every time they fail to refuel with fossil-free fuels. Lyko will continuously monitor all carriers to ensure compliance.
“We hope that customers who may not find ‘their usual’ fossil alternative are tolerant and willing to try another delivery alternative, to be with us and accelerate the transition to fossil-free deliveries in Sweden. We are not done here, but will continue to reach fossil-free in all modes of transport, including deliveries to the warehouse and store deliveries, but this is the largest share of our freight”, said Tom Thörnblom, Head of Communications & Sustainability at Lyko.
What we’re reading
- ESG: the next mis-selling scandal? (Financial Times)
- European energy groups seek €4bn damages over fossil fuel projects (Financial Times)
About Nordic Green News
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.
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