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CLIMATE CRISIS

Swedish court waives fine for activist due to ‘climate emergency’

A Swedish activist who blocked traffic in Stockholm won't have to pay a fine as he carried out the protest to fight the climate crisis, a court has ruled. But the ruling is unlikely to be upheld by the appeals court.

Swedish court waives fine for activist due to 'climate emergency'
A book of Swedish laws. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Climate activist Noa Tucker, a former local politician for the Green Party, took part in a demonstration in Stockholm in summer last year which blocked Kungsgatan, one of the capital’s busiest streets, during rush hour.

He was arrested on the charge of disobeying a police order, and was found guilty in court, although he will not have to pay a fine.

According to court documents seen by The Local, the court found that Tucker had indeed disobeyed police orders, but argued that Tucker’s actions were carried out in response to a concrete threat – the climate emergency – arguing that this meant a fine would be “unreasonable”.

The court described the climate crisis as an “acute situation of emergency,” adding that “the effects of climate change are already noticeable”.

Two nämndemän, or lay judges, ruled that the fine should be waived, with the professional judge and one lay judge dissenting, ruling that he should be fined.

nämndeman is a politically-appointed layman who together with a professional judge passes judgement in court.

However, when the bench is divided, then the weaker sentence, in this case not having to pay a fine, wins.

Tucker’s lawyer, Pia Björstrand, told SVT that neither she nor any of her colleagues have ever seen a similar sentence.

“I view this as historic,” she said. “Not because it will stand [in appeals court] and become precedent, but because this is the first time in Swedish history where we have a sentence which actually states that we are in an acute climate emergency.”

She underlined, however, that as the sentence was determined by laymen, it is unlikely to be held up if appealed.

Tucker shared her view.

“I obviously hope that they can understand the severity of the situation and can see this as acting in an emergency situation, but there are a lot of indicators that this might not hold,” he told SVT.

The use of non-professionals in the legal system is not without its controversies. 

In a famous example from 2018, The Local revealed that two lay judges at Solna District Court appointed by the Centre Party had swung a court ruling based on what party leader Annie Lööf described as “Islamist” values, and in doing so acquitted a man of an alleged assault against his wife.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Why did Sweden’s emissions drop in 2023 – and what’s in store for the future?

Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions fell by two percent last year, but the good news may be short-lived.

Why did Sweden's emissions drop in 2023 – and what's in store for the future?

In 2023, the Scandinavian country’s emissions amounted to 44.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a drop of about one tonne from 2022, according to preliminary statistics, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement.

The two percent decrease was in line with a 1.6 percent drop announced by Statistics Sweden in late May.

The EPA said the 2023 figure represented a decrease of 38 percent from 1990.

The EPA attributed the year-on-year drop primarily to lower emissions from industry – in particular the cement, iron and steel industries, due to lower production as a result of Sweden’s economic recession – and the electric and district heating sector, due to lower electricity prices.

“Emissions have continued to decrease, not least in industry and electric and district heating, which form part of the EU’s emissions trading system,” Anna-Karin Nyström, the head of the EPA’s climate target division said.

“The pace has slowed compared to the year before, when above all domestic transport and (fuel-based) work machinery contributed to a sharp reduction.”

But in March, an independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing climate policy said the government’s plans would lead to short-term emissions increases in 2024 and knock it off-course from its 2030 reduction target.

The Swedish Climate Policy Council, said in the March report that “policy adopted in 2023 will increase emissions and does not lead towards the fulfilment of Sweden’s climate goals and EU commitments by 2030”.

The council said several measures, such as a reduced fuel tax, put climate ambitions at risk.

But it also lamented a lack of concrete measures in the government’s “climate policy action plan”, a roadmap that the government is required by law to present every four years.

Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari said she was “not particularly worried” about the review’s assessments.

“They are based on the government’s policy announcements during 2023, and there are several measures that have been added since then,” Pourmokhtari said.

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