Not content with proposing perhaps the most ambitious climate law in the developed world, Sweden took a sly dig at Donald Trump in the process.
The legislation, which has cross-party support, is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2018, committing the country to become carbon neutral by 2045.
In a publicity masterstroke, climate minister Isabella Lovin posted a photo on twitter and Facebook of herself signing referral of the law flanked by seven women – one of them visibly pregnant.
It was a direct contrast to the all-male cabal surrounding US president Donald Trump last week when he signed a gag order restricting women’s access to abortion worldwide.
Compare and contrast: Trump restricts women’s rights; Sweden’s Isabella Lovin pushes world’s most ambitious (?) climate law pic.twitter.com/1po54sDYsb
— Megan Darby (@climatemegan) February 3, 2017
Having a largely low carbon power mix already, Sweden will really be putting pressure on its transport sector to clean up.
That gives extra impetus to electric vehicles, which the folks at Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Institute reckon could be far more disruptive than energy companies dare imagine.
Their latest analysis factors in the radically falling cost of solar panels and car batteries of recent years to suggest coal and oil demand could peak as early as 2020.
There are many possible explanations for why Exxon Mobil’s profits halved this year, but the US supermajor’s persistent underestimating of clean technologies should give investors pause.
This is the message climate advocates like the UN’s Patricia Espinosa want to get across to Trump, if only they can get his ear: clean industries create the jobs of the future.
Wait and see
The leader of the world’s biggest economy doesn’t give access to just anyone. Ask Myron Ebell, interim advisor, who admitted at an event in London he has never actually met the president.
Nor did he meet Theresa May, the prime minister’s office was quick to establish after Ebell was snapped leaving Number 10 Downing Street.
There are signs Trump’s team is following Ebell’s blueprint for climate destruction: a reference to UN climate cooperation has already been removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
But Mr “America first” can’t avoid other world leaders forever – and Germany’s G20 summit in July is set for a climate showdown, former French ambassador Laurence Tubiana tells Ed King.
And the rest
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Philippines: Government is ready to ratify Paris deal, says senator
Fiji: 2017 climate summit to focus on vulnerable nations
Study: Carbon capture lags behind 2C pathways
China: Energy efficiency improved in 2016, reports Xinhua
Saudi Arabia: State oil firm plans $5bn renewable investment