Tal
Vilnius Energy Security Conference 11 oktober 2007
Cecilia Malmström, EU-minister

Responsible Energy for Responsible Partners

Presidents, Excellencies, Commissioner, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to begin by thanking the organizer for the opportunity to speak at this seminar. I am convinced that this seminar serves as an important opportunity to focus on and to discuss important matters. It is no exaggeration to claim that the Baltic Sea faces critical environmental challenges.

On the one hand, all the environmental problems we had in the Baltic Sea 30 years ago are still with us, and have deteriorated. On the other hand, never before have we had so many opportunities and so much knowledge to really do something concrete to reverse the negative trend.

International cooperation is the key for a change . The EU is essential for tackling challenges we all have in common. Environmental issues are the perfect example of this. We have a number of international programmes, directives and plans to lead us. The decision making process must however also be followed by an ambitious implementation.

The EU Marine directive will introduce a completely new regime for managing Europe's waters and will be backed by the EU's structure and a legal framework for the marine environmental work. This is new and will serve as a very important tool.

It is necessary for us to work further for long-term sustainability. What we do today will affect future generations, especially when it comes to natural resources. It is also important that the EU and politicians in the countries surrounding and affecting the Baltic Sea take actions both on a national level and on an international level.

The state of health of the Baltic Sea may also deteriorate due to the ongoing climate change. Scientists warn about an increase of the sea surface temperature in the Baltic Sea of 2-4 degrees within this century. A warmer climate in the region can lead to enhanced precipitation. More rain means more freshwater that could dramatically change the Baltic Sea which is already facing serious environmental problems with eutrophication, overfishing and ecological disturbance. The Swedish Government considers climate change to be one of the major environmental and political challenges of this century. No politician can afford to neglect the evidences of climate change. The international panel on climate change (IPCC) have expanded our knowledge and established a solid foundation for international action. Furthermore the Stern report on costs of emission reduction have shown that it is possible to achieve the necessary emission reductions of greenhouse gases, without compromising prospects for economic and social development.

Our government welcomes very much the agreement of the European Council last March when the EU set up its goals on fighting climate change. The commitments that the European Union has made concerning the reduction of green house gases and a use of more renewable energy are important and ambitious. They could have been even more far reaching but it is a good start. The EU has been a driving force in the international negotiations on climate change. It is now time that we transform those ambitious goals into concrete political actions. That is one of the most important tasks facing the EU the coming years. It will include political discussions on burden sharing, the development of the European emissions trading system, possible taxes, economic and political incentives, binding goals, legislation etc. It will not be easy - but we need to show the leadership it takes. Hopefully an agreement on a future climate regime can be reached in the autumn of 2009 - that is under the Swedish presidency.

Why am I talking about all this today? Well, because I want to underline that there is a clear link between environment, the challenge of climate change and energy. The energy sector, as it looks today, contributes in a very substantial way to emissions of greenhouse gases and hence to climate change. But we can also find some of the solutions within the energy sector. And I know that political decisions can make a difference!

Sweden's emissions of greenhouse gases were 7 per cent lower in 2005 than in 1990. During the same period, between 1990 and 2005, the Swedish economy grew by 36 per cent. Thus it is possible to reduce emissions and have economic growth at the same time.

The success of Swedish climate policy is largely a result of various mitigation policies and measures. The most important of these is the carbon dioxide tax which was introduced in 1991.

As a result of the carbon dioxide tax, the use of fossil fuels in the heating sector has decreased dramatically and instead, the incineration of biomass and energy efficiency has increased. An increased use of renewable energy sources and improvements in energy efficiency could make an equally substantial difference in alleviating the problems.

Swedish electricity production is nearly free from carbon dioxide as it is largely based on hydro and nuclear power. A system of green electricity certificates aims to promote electricity production based on renewable sources such as biofuels, wind power and small scale hydro power. Since 1970, the use of oil in Sweden has decreased by nearly 50 per cent, whereas the supply of bioenergy has increased by sixty per cent. As a result, our energy supply mix is now more differentiated and our security of supply is much more robust.

I would like to stress that this is very much a general phenomenon: when we speak about security of supply, it is very important to remember that increased energy efficiency and an increased use of renewable energy sources is not only a way to promote environmental goals, but also clearly contributes to security of supply. In our region as a whole we have a massive potential for energy efficiency improvements as well as increased use of renewable energy sources.

Looking around the Baltic Sea countries it is clear that our points of departure in the energy field are not the same. This is actually a strength, in the sense that we have ample opportunities to learn from each other. Some countries may have long experience in energy efficiency measures and good ways to use renewable energy sources, others may have a big potential of cost efficient measures and investments that could be implemented.

Within the Baltic Sea Region Energy Co-operation, BASREC, work along these lines has taken place for quite some time. Much of the work taking place in this context is focused on sharing of information, learning about best practices on efficient use of combined heat and power, biofuels and on how to implement projects to mitigate climate change in line with the regulations of the Kyoto protocol.

A common investment fund for projects to mitigate climate change has also been established, the Testing ground facility, and a number of projects have been identified.

Most of the countries who participate in BASREC are members of the European union or parties to the European Economic Area. A strength of BASREC as a forum is however that it also includes Russia, which has a considerable potential for cost effective energy efficiency measures as well as for an increased production and use of renewable energy.

Finally, let me make some concluding points in order to put what I have said in a wider context. We are facing many environmental challenges today, one of the most daunting is climate change. It is clear that we need to look at issues concerning energy, environment and climate change from an integrated perspective, since they are related. The energy sector has a potential to contribute to the solution to a substantial part of the climate change problem. In so doing, by making stronger efforts for improved energy efficiency as well as an increased use of renewable energy sources, we also promote a strengthened security of supply of energy in our region.

International co-operation is essential in finding good solutions, on all levels. We need to continue our co-operation on the regional level in the Baltic Sea region, and we need to take our work on the EU level several steps further. It is clear that energy and environment including climate change are all issues that will be very much on the agenda for the time to come. We are looking forward to our common preparations for the EU presidencies in 2008 and 2009 together with France and the Czech Republic, in which energy, environment and climate change will also be vital.

Thank you.