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– The concern we feel is that it will affect climate change if the proposal is as it looks now, Bolund tells TT.
He sees risks to the green status of hydropower and forestry.
The government has been criticized by the opposition, the Confederation of Swedish Companies and major energy companies, including state-owned Vattenfall, for not lobbying hard enough for Swedish interests on the issue.
Drive green
These are the proposed rules for taxonomy in the EU, a classification of investments that can be counted as sustainable and “green”. It is very important for where investors manage their money, when the demand for sustainable projects to invest in increases.
On Friday, the government presented comments and objections to the European Commission, which a few months ago sent its proposal for a delegated act for public consultation.
According to Bolund, Nordic hydropower and Nordic forestry would not meet all the proposed criteria to be classified as sustainable investments.
– It can make it difficult to use bioenergy to replace coal, gasoline and diesel.
– And there are very high administration and detail demands that must be met. It will increase the burden on forest owners and farmers without adding any climate benefits, continues the Minister of Finance.
Good Hope
He still hopes that the Swedish objections will take a turn and lead the Commission to rethink.
– The proposal is now quite far from what the EU countries agreed to for the regulation governing taxonomy and what the group of technical experts produced as a proposal, he says.
Rickard Nordin, the energetic spokesman for the Center Party and currently also spokesman for economic policy, is not so optimistic.
– It will be a horse’s job to change the Commission’s proposal, he says.
Too passive
Nordin believes that the government has long been too passive, but now it seems to have gotten a grasp of the essence of what is at stake. The taxonomy itself is important for change.
– It is important because it is about which investments are counted as green. Many want to invest in green projects, both private individuals and large funds, he says.
This means that capital looks for things that are considered green and that it becomes more difficult for energy types that are not classified as sustainable to obtain investment capital at good interest rates and conditions.
Lars Larsson / TT
The EU has set energy and climate targets for 2030 and aims for a climate-neutral union by 2050.
One way to achieve the objectives is the taxonomy, a classification system for sustainable investments.
It will help and guide investors to invest in sustainable projects from an environmental and climate point of view.
The framework went into effect this summer. Since then, they have worked on the criteria and requirements of the investments so that they can appear as ecological.
These include requirements for hydropower and bioenergy and indirectly how forests can be used.
Source: European Commission.
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