Swedish Arctic strategy criticized
Opposition parties in the Swedish Parliament want the government to take a stricter stand towards future oil exploitation in the Arctic when Sweden has the chairmanship for the Arctic Council.
Sweden has only had the chairmanship for the Arctic Council for six months. But the center-right coalition government’s strategy for the next two years has already been criticized by the opposition parties, Radio Sweden reports.
Gustaf Fridolin, spokesperson of the Green Party’, believes that Sweden should use its chairmanship to stop any future exploitation plans in the Arctic:
- If we globally want to reach the goals we have set for the climate politics, which the Swedish government says it is protecting, we cannot open for new exploitation of oil fields in the arctic areas, Fridolin says.
Minister of Environment Lena Ek says there are no international legal regulations that make it possible for one state to stop oil activity by another state.
- We are trying to enforce or develop new regulations on environmental impact assessments. That is, as far as we see it, the only legal improvements we can develop within reasonably short notice. Politically, you can always speak about what to do or not and we have very strong views about the strategy for the Arctic areas. But we have to do this together with two super powers, USA and Russia, so it’s not as easy as wishful thinking, says Lena Ek.
The Arctic Council’s Ambassador Gustav Lind says Sweden has a great chance to set the agenda during its chairmanship and wants to push as far as possible when it comes to protect the environment, but explains that all decisions in the Arctic Council have to be made with consensus from all the member states.
