The government’s move to invest in climate compensation abroad is now being seen by researchers. Earlier today, it was announced that the grants to reduce emissions in other countries will be tripled – something that could mean a setback for the green transition here at home.
– Climate compensation instead of climate policy is not good. The government pursues a policy that increases Swedish emissions, so this is a way of shirking its responsibility, says Mikael Karlsson, docent in environmental science at Uppsala University.
Today, the government has announced that the allocations for climate compensation in developing countries will triple to 1.5 billion. Very roughly, it could be enough to reduce emissions abroad by two million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is less than 5 percent of Sweden’s current emissions.
“Contributes to faster changeover”
It could be about electrifying bus traffic or installing solar cells. Right now, the Swedish Energy Agency is negotiating cooperation projects with Ghana, the Dominican Republic and Nepal.
– It contributes to a faster transition in those countries. These are measures that they otherwise would not have been able to finance right now, and where they have assessed that this is a way for them to be able to reduce emissions in an effective way, says Sandra Lindström, who is head of international climate cooperation at the Swedish Energy Agency.
Goes beyond Swedish emission reductions
But the question is whether the financing abroad has the consequence that we neglect to do anything about our emissions here at home. There are several who fear.
– Sooner or later we have to reduce all emissions in all countries if we are to meet the climate goals, says Mikael Karlsson. Postponing the measures ten years ahead and in the meantime investing the money elsewhere in the world will not help us reach the Swedish climate goals.