The Swedish forest industry believes it be to essential that the European Union continues to stay at the forefront of the fight against climate change. To achieve this we emphasize that EU climate policy must combine economic growth with reduced emissions.
We fully support the EU objective of climate neutrality by 2050. To reach this objective, a major transformation of society is needed, and this will affect how we live, what we eat, what we wear, how we stay healthy and how we travel.
In short, our input on the Climate Law:
- Forests, forestry and the use of forest-based products will be important contributors in reaching climate neutrality. The Climate Law must apply a balanced approach between sequestration, storage and substitution.
- We strongly dissuade from including any fixed targets on size of EU or Member State forest carbon sinks.
- The Climate Law needs to contain a clear definition of what climate neutrality means and how it is to be calculated. We suggest that climate neutrality is defined as balance between emissions and removals, preferably on a Member State level.
- EU climate policy must ensure that no carbon leakage takes place. It is unacceptable to lower the EU's emissions by simply moving industrial production to other parts of the world.
- The Climate Law should acknowledge the importance of material substitution and a shift to low-carbon technologies.
- The Climate Law must strive towards ensuring the largest possible emission reduction at the lowest possible cost. Furthermore, the Law must be designed in such a way that forerunners are rewarded for leading the way and for managing the risk this entails.
- Concerning possible later revisions of the Law, a balance must be struck between the need for this and predictability for businesses and companies.
