Sverige har för stort fokus på lokala miljöeffekter, menar före detta MP-ledaren Maria Wetterstrand. Det gäller gruvor, vindkraftverk och tillverkningsindustri. ”I värsta fall blir konsekvensen att en liten lokal effekt på en plats förhindrar etableringar som kan ha enormt positiva effekter...
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Wetterstrand: "Sweden focuses too much on local environmental effects"
Sweden has too much focus on local environmental effects, according to former MP leader Maria Wetterstrand. This applies to mines, wind turbines and the manufacturing industry. "In the worst case, the consequence is that a small local effect in one place prevents establishments that can have enormously positive effects, not least at the community and global level," she told TN.
How to produce the materials, components and products needed for the green transition is a major issue today. So far we have solved it by pushing the problem away - much of the production takes place in China and the mines are mostly in other parts of the world.
So says Maria Wetterstrand, a former spokesperson for the Green Party who is now CEO of the Brussels office of communications agency Miltton.
- 'Even if we were to become much smarter about how we use resources, we have a risky supply chain. Because of the exploitation of people and the environment elsewhere on the planet, but also because Europe is so dependent on the functioning of these trade flows.
When they are disrupted in any way, as they were during the pandemic, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and because of trade wars between China and the US, it affects industry, jobs and societal functions in Europe.
To make Europe more resilient to disruptions in the global trading system by supporting more production in Europe, the EU recently made two new proposals, the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net Zero Industry Act.
Both proposals aim to make the EU more resilient, more self-sufficient in raw materials, technological components and technologies needed for the green transition.
"This is dangerous in the long run because it means that China can basically do whatever they want with us."
These include simplifying permitting processes by identifying "goto areas" and by mapping critical and strategic raw materials in soil, waste streams and landfills.
- I am a green free trader - more so than most greens - and believe that trade is fundamentally prosperous and peaceful. But I also realize that we are currently extremely dependent on China as the sole supplier of many of the things we need for our industry and our green transition.
- This is dangerous in the long run because it means that China can basically do whatever it wants with us, and we should not be in such a relationship.
At the same time, the EU proposals require Member States to engage in mapping and creating conditions for the establishment of extraction and processing of materials, but also for the manufacturing industry of components for green technology.
- I believe that Europe can become the best in the world in sustainable mining, circular flows and extracting materials from waste streams.
Here Sweden has many companies that can contribute, both in terms of the possibilities to extract virgin material in the most sustainable way possible, and in terms of circularity.
"Complicated permitting processes a big problem"
There are great opportunities for Swedish companies to become suppliers of circular materials, to work with extraction in a sustainable way, and to develop technologies that accelerate the green transition, such as batteries, electrolysers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen, parts for solar panels, or blades for wind turbines.
Moreover, building production capacity in Europe has an intrinsic value from an environmental and sustainability point of view globally as it is likely to lead to more sustainable production here than elsewhere, but also for the green transition.
But here, complicated permit processes are a major problem, not only in Sweden but throughout Europe," she points out.
- This is one of the barriers that make industry reluctant to invest and build new production capacity in Europe. I think there is a lot that can be done to improve permitting processes, with continued local environmental considerations and democratic influence over what is to be established.
"In the worst case, the consequence is that a small local effect in one place prevents establishments that can have enormously positive effects, not least at the community and global level."
Since the Environmental Code came into force in 1999, people have changed their priorities regarding which environmental aspects are considered the most important, according to Maria Wetterstrand.
- "Based on how we view environmental issues today, I would say that the Environmental Code has too much focus on local environmental effects and too little focus on global environmental effects. In the worst case, the consequence is that a small local effect in a place prevents establishments that can have enormously positive effects, not least at the societal and global level.
There are even cases where legislation stops establishments because of a local effect that the local population doesn't even care about," she adds.
'Part of it is that it is easier to measure and verify local environmental impact. There are limit values, water quality regulations and other things that are easy to measure against. It is much more difficult to verify an impact that is global.
There is always a balance to be struck, and it is not easy to do so while complying with the legislation. The way the law is formulated, there is actually room to take more account of positive global effects, but how should they be calculated?
Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
If Europe brings home production from China, for example, it is a problem that will recur many times in the future. China has a large climate impact related to the production of goods and components that European countries buy. If this production takes place in Europe instead, the climate footprint will be lower overall, even if Europe has a greater environmental impact.
- The same can apply within a country. If we want to increase the degree of self-sufficiency in certain products, components and raw materials for industry, this means increased energy use and a greater environmental impact here, but it will still be considerably less than if production takes place elsewhere.
Wetterstrand calls for a more nuanced discussion on how this should be handled. She does not believe in ignoring when rare animal species are threatened by settlements, nor that it is enough to simply increase circularity and reduce our material consumption.
"Now it's as if both sides of the debate are being painted in a negative light," she says. On the one hand "the evil capitalist who wants to open mines everywhere without any consideration whatsoever" against "those environmentalists who only protest against everything that has any impact whatsoever".
- Instead of getting bogged down in the conflict, decision-makers need to take the discussion to a higher level - "it may be a bad place for a mine, but how are we going to get our materials?". I am convinced that both 'sides' are more nuanced than the media makes them out to be.
So far, the problem has been solved by buying products and raw materials from elsewhere, but it is much healthier if we do more of it ourselves," she says.
- "It provides a greater insight that the resource consumption we have in society today is not sustainable. When we see the effects of our own consumption, we may be able to accept negative consequences in some places that we have agreed are the least bad places, while at the same time starting to discuss the problems of the large consumption of materials that our lifestyle gives rise to.
"We need to be incredibly smart about how we use limited resources."
The best approach to establishing wind turbines would be to do comprehensive planning and agree on which areas are suitable for establishing wind turbines, she says.
- If the local population also gets a share of the profits, the attitude is completely different. In some cases, the protesters are also right.
Protests can play an important role
In retrospect, she cannot see why she was against the construction of the Öresund Bridge at the time, but at the same time she is not sure that the same environmental considerations would have been taken into account without the protests.
- "Protests have a role to play in pointing out weaknesses, shortcomings and the need for consideration. "Speeding up permit processes should not be seen as a carte blanche to override all opposition - that would just be stupid. It would also be stupid for the industry, as important objections may emerge from the protests.
Overall, resource consumption in society is unsustainable, according to Maria Wetterstrand.
- "We need to be much smarter about how we use limited resources, whether they are virgin raw materials, recycled raw materials or renewable raw materials.
It is about studying resource flows and making them more resource-efficient by, for example, extending the lifetime of products, requiring repair instead of scrapping, or shifting from material consumption to more service consumption.
Although this is something that is widely discussed, it is on a superficial level. There are rarely serious discussions about how this should actually be done," Wetterstrand points out.
- "We need to address the basic problem - that we use extremely large amounts of resources to run our societies and that we are bad at reusing and recycling what we once put into the system. At the other end, it creates a waste problem.
Building and land permits under the Planning and Building Act. The municipality's building committee decides.