Speech The UN Climate Conference in Bali 13 December 2007
Andreas Carlgren, Minister for the Environment

Plenary Statement by H.E. Mr Andreas Carlgren

Mr President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The world expects much of us. And rightly so! Science has given crystal clear confirmation of what is required of us to avoid a dramatic threat to our earth´s climate.
At our Conference of Parties in 2009 we are to sign a global agreement that will save the climate. Science urges us that we therefore need to limit global warming to 2 degrees. Then we have only 7 years to turn global emissions of greenhouse gases around. By 2050 the emissions need to be reduced by at least 50 to 85 percent. This is what IPCC tells us. And this is what our new global agreement must achieve.
The agreement must be fair, reflecting the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

The rich part of the world has laid claim to by far the greatest portion of the earth´s capability of dealing with carbon dioxide - thereby buying itself an economic standard at the cost of destruction of the climate. At the same time, the poorest people, who are least to blame for the problems, are affected first and worst. Measures are therefore needed to protect the world´s poorest and most vulnerable against the consequences of climate destruction.

The rich part of the world must now take the lead. We have to make major emission reductions, as well as assist developing countries in dealing with the consequences of climate change.

The EU has declared that it is prepared to reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, and we encourage and we urge other industrialised countries to make comparable efforts.

We welcome Australia´s willingness to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

We welcome the increasing engagement in all of American society - its inhabitants, business, states and its President. And we encourage it to stand ready to commit to sufficient and binding emission reductions.

At the same time we welcome adequate contributions to limit emissions from more advanced developing countries. Those countries could not be expected to take on binding commitments of the same kind as industrialised countries. But a climate agreement needs to create incentives for developing countries to implement reductions in emissions that can be measured, reported and verified.

Sweden has taken the initiative of establishing an international commission for climate-proofing development. A central task for the commission is to ensure that development aid from OECD countries takes climate impact and disaster risks into account.

We are facing major challenges. But if we tackle them, enormous possibilities open up.

The industrialised countries have so far had a high-carbon development. Rapidly growing economies in the developing world need not follow that path. Industrialised countries must assume responsibility for transferring financing and investment to low-carbon technologies. We must deliver this central component leading to a massive technological development. Developing countries must be enabled to take a shortcut to fossil-free, green economies that grow and flourish in a sustainable way - as we all have to! Measures to tackle climate change must include strong sustainable development policies and measures.

Reduction of emissions and simultaneous economic growth is possible. Sweden has experienced it. Since 1970 the use of oil has more or less been cut by half in our country. At the same time the use of bio-energy has grown by sixty per cent. Between 1990 and 2006, we have reduced our emissions by almost 9 per cent, while experiencing an economic growth of 44 per cent.

One important factor behind this has been the carbon tax. Our experience is that a price on carbon emissions is necessary, through taxes or trading. Such economic instruments can also contribute to the resources necessary for adaptation and the technology challenge.

We now have the responsibility to achieve what is necessary here in Bali:

Let us state the basis for a future global climate agreement: By 2050 global emissions must be at least halved compared to 1990 levels. And by 2020 the industrialised countries, collectively, must have reduced their emissions by a range of 25 - 40 per cent below 1990 levels. Let us here in Bali set down the building blocks for a future global climate agreement.

Let us decide on a road map for the negotiations, with a timetable and clear stepping stones for the route from Bali in 2007 to Copenhagen in 2009 - and thereby reach broad international support for the objective of achieving a global post 2012-regime by 2009. And let the message from Bali be that intensive negotiations have been started at this conference.

Finally, I want to remind each and everyone of you, my dear colleagues: We can not, during the same couple of days, award the Nobel Prize to Al Gore and IPCC in one part of the world, and, in another part of the world, fail in what we are here to do. We are being watched by a world expecting us to start moving decisively towards Copenhagen in 2009. Let us meet those expectations! It requires leadership. Let us show that leadership!