Monthly Newsletter

Eco-friendly Sweden has underlined its intention to use its forthcoming EU presidency, which it will assume in July, to champion a tax on carbon in EU member states. A 20% carbon tax was imposed in Sweden in 1991, which alongside subsidies for eco-friendly improvements, allowed it to cut its carbon emissions by over 9% whilst maintaining strong economic growth.

Although Sweden recognises that an EU-wide carbon tax is not feasible until 2013, when EU member states are expected to recover from the global financial crisis, it has advocated that EU member states adopt extra taxation on emissions in sectors which currently do not fall under the scope of the EU’s emission trading scheme, introduced under the Kyoto Protocol.

When it assumes the EU presidency it plans to initiate a European debate on how European countries will tackle carbon emissions. On the government’s agenda is getting European countries to increase the use of biofuel, which is already widely used in Sweden, and improve the energy-efficiency of households and airports.

Stockholm’s Arlanda airport situated 42km north of the capital is currently leading the field on energy efficiency. While investigating ways to improve aircrafts’ efficiency, Swedish airline SAS has led the project and already implemented substantial changes to the way airliners operate in order to reduce emissions. The airline has introduced a new scheme called ‘green landings’, which significantly reduces emissions by organising flights by arrival time allowing flights to land instantly upon reaching the designated airport, saving fuel. SAS has also invested in a computer mechanism that lands aircraft by gliding them without active engines, according to SAS the method is not only more efficient but quieter and smoother than conventional methods. SAS has found that airliners that choose to invest in the new system would have a return on their investment after just twelve months.

The Swedish government, which has experienced significant success and public support for its many proposals, is to introduce further domestic measures to decrease its emissions despite surpassing the target laid out by the Kyoto Protocol. Measures which are to be introduced within the coming year include an increase in taxation on non-environmentally-friendly fuel sources and reform of the vehicle registration fee system to deter those with less energy-efficient car models. The Swedish government has already introduced subsidies on green car purchases, levied congestion charges in Stockholm and hiked carbon tax by an additional 2.6% in January, making it a leading ecofriendly EU member state; well placed to advise during EU discussions on the matter.