SNS Economic Policy Council Report 2020. Swedish Policy for Global Climate

The translation of the full report “SNS Economic Policy Council Report 2020: Swedish Policy for Global Climate is underway” is underway; it will be published in June 2020. In the meantime, please down load the English summary. In short, the Council proposes the following:

• Coal is the central threat to the climate – let it stay in the ground. China must get rid of its coal dependency. Likewise, India and the African countries should not follow in China’s footsteps with a coal-based development strategy.
• A global minimum price for carbon dioxide emissions should be introduced and fossil subsidies must be abolished.
• Green subsidies are not enough to reduce emissions. The use of cheap green electricity is increasing, but that does not mean that fossil fuels will be outcompeted.
• Swedish climate policy should have as its main goal to reduce global emissions, not just the country’s own emissions.
• Contribute with financial support for the restructuring of other countries. The EU’s climate policy has functioning ways to finance emissions reductions for less wealthy member states. However, this increased aid should not reduce Sweden’s own climate ambitions.
• Form climate clubs. Sweden needs to push the issue of climate tariffs on countries that do not stay within a certain level of the emission price. So called climate clubs can be created where countries together set a uniform emission price where imports from countries that are not part of the club are subject to a customs duty.
• Fossil-free electricity exports can help reduce emissions in the EU to a large extent by pushing out coal power.
• Finance CCS technology (carbon dioxide collection and storage) by introducing a storage fund. In this way, carbon dioxide, corresponding to half of Sweden’s emissions, can be taken care of at a cost equal to what the state collects via the carbon dioxide tax. This requires state funding which should be designed as a contribution per tonne of collected and safely stored carbon dioxide.

SNS Economic Policy Council 2020

John Hassler (chairman), Professor of Economics, Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University
Björn Carlén, Ph.D. in Economics, Researcher at the Environmental Economics unit at the National Institute of Economic Research
Jonas Eliasson, Visiting Professor in Transport Systems, Linköping University, former Director of the Stockholm City Transportation Department, and Professor of Transport Systems Analysis, Royal Institute of Technology
Filip Johnsson, Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, Chalmers University of Technology
Per Krusell, Professor of Economics, Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES), Stockholm University
Therese Lindahl, Ph.D. in Economics, Researcher at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics
Jonas Nycander, Professor of Physical Oceanography, Stockholm University
Åsa Romson, Doctor of Legal Science (environmental science), Researcher at the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, former Minister for the Environment
Thomas Sterner, Professor of Environmental Economics, University of Gothenburg

What is the SNS Economic Policy Council?

Since 1974, SNS annually appoints a group of academic researchers that, going under the name of the SNS Economic Policy Council, analyses how various key aspects of the economy function over time. Based on its conclusions, the Council makes recommendations to politicians and also, occasionally, to other decision-makers. SNS’ purpose is to ensure that the public debate is based on high-quality scientific research; the Economic Policy Council reports usually attract a good deal of attention in the media. The authors take full responsibility for the analysis, conclusions and proposals in the report, on which SNS as an organisation adopts a neutral stance.

Contact

John Hassler, chairman SNS Economic Policy Council 2020, john@hassler.se, +46 70-811 72 63
Stefan Sandström, Research Director SNS, stefan.sandstrom@sns.se, + 4670-922 73 73