SUBMITTER. The government must quickly change course and do everything it can to stop global warming. Accelerate climate work for the sake of our children and grandchildren, writes retired teacher Johan Larsson.

Open letter to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M):

The climate crisis is acute! In 2023 and 2024, sea surface temperatures were at their highest for 450 consecutive days. The rate of warming has more than quadrupled in 40 years, according to a study from the University of Reading. Scientists warn that warming will accelerate even faster in the next 20 years unless our emissions are drastically reduced.

The ice at the poles is melting rapidly, which means that solar energy instead hits the dark sea surface where it is not reflected to the same extent but is absorbed by the sea. “What you can do is slow down the speed by reducing emissions as quickly as possible, which is very important for society to be able to adapt and reduce the damage,” says Ola Kalén, oceanographer at SMHI ( DN 3/2 ).

It is high time to show real leadership for the sake of our children and grandchildren. What we fail to do today will otherwise affect future generations in the form of extreme weather events, crop failures, food crises, famine, increased refugee flows and conflicts, and wars over resources. “The public sector must step forward, show the way, provide incentives and rules for a sustainable transition,” says Johan Rockström , professor of environmental science at Stockholm University and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

The business community is also demanding long-term agreements and rules to be able to invest and adapt production to a sustainable, fossil-free society. An example of this is the European cement industry organization Cembureau, which does not want to see a break in climate tariffs, which the EPP, the conservative and Christian-democratic party group in the EU, recently proposed at a meeting in Berlin, where you, Ulf Kristersson, also attended .

“Today we know with a very high probability that we are following a path that by 2035 will be equivalent to catastrophic consequences for about half of the world's population and will affect the entire world's population, both in terms of extreme weather events and the global economy,” says Professor Johan Rockström. There are solutions to avoid ending up in the unmanageable situation in 2035. In all markets in the world, exponential positive curves apply for both solar and wind power. To eliminate coal, oil and gas, we need a price for carbon dioxide of at least 200 euros per tonne, Rockström further argues. The public sector's main responsibility is to stop subsidising what destroys and spend at least one seventh of that on supporting the transition, he says.

Swedish emissions increased by 5.6 percent in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Statistics Sweden Agency . The reason is the government and the SD's policy of greatly reducing the reduction obligation, reducing fuel tax, abolishing bonuses for electric cars, increasing travel allowances for motorists and abolishing state support for connecting new offshore wind turbines to the power grid, as well as unsustainable deforestation. This is indefensible!

Sweden has had a climate law since 2017. We have also signed the legally binding Paris Agreement in 2015 and the EU's climate law, "Fit for 55". This means that Swedish emissions must be halved by 2030 (compared to 2005) and reach zero emissions by 2045 at the latest. Sweden is on track to miss all of these legally binding requirements, which risks costing Swedish taxpayers dearly. The government's unsustainable policy will lead to Sweden exceeding both our so-called ETS emissions targets (from industry) and the ESR limit (total amount of permitted emissions), which could lead to fines of up to SEK 20 billion. Even if we phase out all emissions from coal, oil and gas, we will still miss the 1.5 degree target (according to the Paris Agreement) if we do not secure the carbon sink in the forest, according to Johan Rockström.

Climate scientists know that 1.5 degrees of warming is a critical limit. If it is exceeded, we risk unacceptable consequences for billions of people. Statistically, this limit has already been crossed, hopefully temporarily. At 2 degrees of warming, the risk of major, irreversible changes increases.

The melting of the Greenland ice sheet would mean a rise in sea level of about seven meters. It is also not possible to rule out a collapse of the Gulf Stream, which we depend on to survive in our part of the world. According to Rockström, just “turning a blind eye and driving” is an undignified and life-threatening strategy in this precarious situation.

Sweden is a relatively wealthy country and has previously been a model for sustainable development. The government's current policies are substandard for the climate, Sweden's reputation and our opportunities to create an innovative, fossil-free, competitive society, built on a circular economy and sustainable development.

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is impatiently waiting for incentives to invest in a sustainable society. The assumption that Sweden's population is not "ripe" for a radical change is also a false one. According to a broad survey, a full 71 percent say they want politicians to do much more to limit climate change. The shift in opinion is particularly clear among people outside the big cities, where there has been an increase from 60 percent in 2022 to 70 percent in 2023, according to the World Wildlife Fund WWF's Climate Barometer 2023 .

According to climate scientists, the next few years are crucial to saving the climate from a global catastrophe. What we do, or fail to do, now will define the future of our children and grandchildren.

Emissions must decrease by at least 7.6 percent per year, according to the UN's 2019 climate report, which means that we now need to accelerate climate work significantly to catch up if global warming is to be limited to 1.5 degrees.

I now appeal to you, Ulf Kristersson, to show the same good leadership as in your speech to the nation after the horrific mass shooting in Örebro. Knowledge, insight, courage, compassion and commitment are what are now required to mobilize all good forces for a just climate transition. We cannot afford to wait!