Jessica Rosencrantz is in attendance at the high-level meeting ahead of the UN climate conference COP30, where the agenda for the meeting itself, which starts on Monday, is being hammered out.
Her input is that there should be better follow-up of the climate plans that each member country submits at five-year intervals according to the Paris Agreement.
Now it is important for Sweden and Europe that the plans are not hidden in a drawer, according to Rosencrantz, but that they are actually implemented. But not everyone thinks so.
There are interests from other countries that would rather resist.
“Really difficult”
This means that it may be difficult to reach an agreement on the issue in the next two weeks. Rosencrantz expresses some skepticism.
I think it could be genuinely difficult. It's an uphill climb because countries are incredibly far apart.
The deadline for the latest update of the agreements expired in February, but EU countries managed to submit it just days before the summit, albeit with promises of huge emissions reductions over the next 15 years.
Sometimes you might think that a lot of time is spent on the EU's internal processes before we get here. But that's because it's so important. Because when we speak with one voice, we have enormous strength in that.
No minister present
Sweden has no minister present during the meeting itself. Rosencrantz thinks it is important that she is there now, and she thinks Sweden has a “strong and strategic presence” even without her or another ministerial colleague for the next two weeks.
Sweden's presence is of course important, but it is the EU as a whole that negotiates on the ground. And it is also important to have it with you, she says.
