It is primarily the question of the forest that has divided the Environmental Objectives Committee, which has just finalized the investigation on how Sweden can fulfill its commitments to the EU, primarily regarding biological diversity and carbon sequestration.
The past few days have been marked by conflicts within the committee, where all parliamentary parties are represented. A key issue is how to define the forest that should be protected – which affects how much forest can be felled.
The Green Party's member Maria Gardfjell will submit a reservation of over 20 pages – including on the forest.
We are not getting concrete good protection for Sweden's primeval and natural forests, and more clear-cuts will not save biological diversity, she says to TT.
It's an upside-down world.
"A lot of nonsense"
According to the Green Party and the Social Democrats, the Alliance parties, outside of the committee's work, have agreed on a narrower definition than what was previously on the table. The Social Democrats have accused the Moderate Party of being "unserious" and breaking an agreement across party lines.
"The Social Democrats are talking, as usual, a lot of nonsense", comments member John Widegren (M) to TT.
Otherwise, Widegren is waiting to comment until February 15, when the investigation will be presented, and says that the Social Democrats are more interested in "playing games than reaching an agreement".
"Can risk fines"
Maria Gardfjell says that the forest that is now supposed to be protected according to the investigation constitutes very small parts of the natural forests. She believes that Sweden, with these proposals, will not live up to its commitments to the EU and internationally.
This can risk fines, considering that EU legislation is binding.
It's simply a way to try to circumvent the legislation. In a rule-of-law state, one should strive to follow the law.
Corrected: In an earlier version, John Widegren (M) got the wrong last name.
Anna Hansson/TT
Facts: The Environmental Objectives Committee and the natural forest
TTTT
The committee consists of members from all parliamentary parties with the aim of achieving broad political consensus on environmental issues. The assignment, which will soon be submitted to the government, deals with how Sweden can fulfill EU goals and international goals on carbon sequestration and biological diversity.
Sweden must, for example, follow the requirement that at least 20 percent of the EU's land and water area should be restored by 2030 and strictly protect all primeval and natural forests. Natural forests are, simply put, forests that have been unaffected by humans for so long that they have begun to resemble primeval forests.
In the investigation, no proposal is made to protect primeval and natural forests, but rather so-called old forests, a narrower concept that is based, among other things, on the age of the trees.
