Environmental issues in foreign policy

First of all, what does an Environmental Ambassador do?

"The Government has had an Environmental Ambassador for more than 20 years. Before Sweden joined the EU, the Ministry of the Environment didn't have much experience of international negotiations and so an official from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs took on the role. Today, all ministries work on international issues, and part of my role is to work on climate issues and on environmental cooperation with key countries such as India and China."

Do other countries also have an Environmental Ambassador?

"Yes, Denmark, Norway, the UK and France, for example, and others besides. And more and more now have special Climate Ambassadors too.

"The climate issue is actually a part of the environment issue," explains Erik Hammarskjöld.
"The climate issue has become the 'hottest' environmental issue and it is emphasised because it's extremely important, but also because the climate issue works as an eye-opener for other environmental issues."

Climate and environmental issues have made their way up the foreign policy agenda too. Can you explain this further?

"A country's position on the climate issue is something that comes up today in foreign policy talks and discussions. This is something that didn't happen before. And then the issue does of course also have a strong link to the energy issue, one of our most important strategic issues today. Access to and/or dependency on energy is a power factor. If we succeed in improving energy efficiency, saving energy, using renewable energy sources and thus reducing the burden on the environment, we can, at the same time, reduce imports of fossil fuels and in doing so make ourselves more independent.

Green diplomacy

Erik Hammarskjöld also talks about the direct link between climate and security.
"When pastures dry out and access to water is reduced, this can lead to instability and conflict. As in Darfur, for example, where competition for pastures and water supplies is one of the reasons for the fighting."

To hinder conflicts that have environmental dimensions, 'green diplomacy' is often mentioned.
Erik Hammarskjöld uses the tensions between Armenians and Azerbaijanis to explain the term.
"They have environmental problems around the border separating the two countries. The UN and the OSCE took the initiative to begin talks between the two sides to resolve the environmental problems, and by doing so were able to reduce tensions between the two countries."

So the common environmental problem became more important than their disagreement?
"Yes, it at least meant that they could talk to each other and thus help to reduce tensions."

Environment and international trade

Trade issues have a strong link to the environment. International environmental issues are among the areas being negotiated in the context of the WTO's 'Doha round'.
"Sometimes there's a conflict of interests between trade rules and what's good for the environment. For example, there are trade barriers that affect biofuels and environmental technology, and Sweden is working to remove these barriers. But a lot of the biofuels are also linked to agricultural issues, which are some of the most complicated matters for negotiation in the WTO. So it's hard to talk about one policy area without including the other in discussions."

Environment and development assistance

Development and development assistance issues are another area of foreign policy that is increasingly linked to the environmental discussion.
"Developing countries, the poorest in particular, are the worst hit by climate change today, and they will probably be so in the future as well. The UN, the World Bank and the donor countries must, therefore, support these countries in adapting to climate change. Many of these countries do think that this is important, but they do not think that it should be set against economic growth and development. This is yet another difficult environmental issue that Sweden is addressing. Sweden has established a commission, under the leadership of Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson, which is to work for development policy in the donor countries taking climate issues into consideration - and even for it to become one of the key issues when formulating policy."

In November, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its report which describes what needs to be done to reverse climate change, and now it is time for the world's politicians to meet in Bali to begin negotiations on a new Kyoto agreement. The current agreement expires in 2012. For Sweden, the environment will be a key issue during the Swedish EU Presidency in 2009. In the same year, the Danes hope that the new climate agreement that is to replace the Kyoto Protocol will be a reality. And that people in future perhaps will refer to a new and powerful environmental tool - the Copenhagen Protocol.