Sweden will receive €155.7 million ($154.5m) in EU grants through the Just Transition Fund (JTF) Programme to help industries, including steel, achieve climate neutrality by 2045, Kallanish notes.
The country will mobilise a total investment of €311.5m to ensure this transition does not disadvantage anyone in society.
“Sweden’s aim to be climate neutral five years ahead of the EU target is truly commendable,” says Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the European Green Deal. “The support from the Just Transition Fund agreed in this plan will help Sweden meet its targets in an inclusive and fair way, offering new perspectives to workers in the country’s most industry-heavy regions.”
“The JTF support will help Swedish industry transition to climate neutrality, while maintaining competitiveness and sustaining economic and employment levels in the counties of Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Gotland,” says a European Commission note.
Industrial emissions account for 32% of Sweden’s total greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the transformation of the steel, mineral and metals industries, the main greenhouse emitters, will have an important socio-economic impact. The JTF will help alleviate this impact by investing in research and innovation, and in the retraining and reskilling of workers, it adds.
Because of the scale of the decarbonisation challenge, the JTF will also support targeted investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in activities covered by the Emissions Trading System, such as steel and cement production.
Sweden’s steel industry is at the forefront of decarbonisation among peers in other countries. The Hybrit and H2 Green Steel projects each aim to commission fossil-free iron and steelmaking in the middle of this decade.
Adam Smith Poland
