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Thank you so much for that introduction.
I will focus sustainability.
My party is 119 years old, and I am the seventh party leader during all these years. But I am the first woman, so even in Sweden where Social Democrats have meant so much for the freedom of the working class and certainly for questions on gender, it took 119 years to get a woman as leader of the party. And I truly hope to be the first woman to be Prime Minister after the next election – but we will see if that is possible!
Our next general election is in September 2010 and the topic of sustainability will be the issue in that election campaign, I am certain of that. No policy maker, nowhere, in no country, can avoid the future challenges of sustainability. It is modernize or die, sustainability or die, or at least – modernize in a sustainable way or loose elections. That is the reality in my country.
Last week I flew to Antarctica to monitor and discuss with scientists about how our seventh continent, with 90 per cent of all ice in the world, with 70 per cent of all fresh water in the world, is doing. I went there with the Socialist International, and it is almost impossible to travel further away from Sweden or United Kingdom than to Antarctica. The north of Sweden is as far away from the equator as Antarctica is, so without the Golf Stream the climate in Sweden would be like the climate on Antarctica. That is worth thinking of.
The lesson learned from the Chilean Base and the scientists we met is that Antarctica and the Arctic tells us a lot about what we need to address here today.
It was fascinating but also quite frightening, I must say. It’s obvious that human activities are to blame for the climate change, and the effects can already be seen on the ice shelves surrounding Antarctica. No human life there, but still so affected by how we humans live our lives – so far away.
The average land temperature on Antarctica has not yet increased according to the IPCC, but on the Antarctic peninsula, where we were, the temperature increase are six times over the average global warming, and the temperature rising. That’s why they call it “the Hot-Spot”, so the coldest spot of the world is now the Hot Spot of global warming.
The ice is melting, the glaciers is accelerating and the ice shelves such as Larsen B – big as one and a half Luxembourg – lost its way from Antarctica only a few years ago. A total removal of ice only from the basins on the Western Antarctica would raise global sea level by 1.2 meters. It’s not a climate threat. It is a climate crisis now, and we are living in it.
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There are few issues with a stronger moral dimension than the climate crises and politics is built on values and moral commitments. Or should be built on that, anyway – especially for us Social Democrats.
But politics is also down-to-earth and pragmatic rebuilding, improvement of the society. Nice speeches won’t save the climate refugees or the rising sea level. Not populism either, due to the discussion you had before, but clear results and true and honest arguments in a discussion with the voters about what is actually happening.
It is all about seeing what must be done, what can be done – and doing it.
Securing a multi-lateral system requires leadership both by developed and developing countries, as well as strong solidarity between them. You could say that solidarity has become a global survival strategy – I do believe that – and that is for real this time.
Let us not pretend that it will be easy. It won’t.
Let us not be lulled into believing we have plenty of time. Because we don’t.
We have to seek a way of life based on new technologies, new knowledge and research. We have to find new transport solutions and do the investments. And we have to find ways for new international cooperation and responsibility. We all know that. That’s the direction for progressive leaders, and I believe this can be done.
New technologies and investments have always been a condition for economic development and political visions for us Social Democrats. It was true 100 years ago and I absolutely thing this is true today too.
Thus, new technology and investments to improve sustainability also brings new potential for economic growth. Let me give you two facts.
Since 1990, Swedish GDP has increased by more than 40 per cent while emissions have fallen around 8 per cent. Ending climate change is a hopeful possibility to improve employment and build welfare – not the opposite.
Every third car sold in Sweden today is an environmentally friendly, so called green, car. The drastic change of the consumer pattern is a good example how political incentives and public debate influence our societies and the business. It is possible to love the car if you hate the fossil fuels.
The role of politics had to grow. The changes won’t happen by chance – we all know that. The market is an excellent servant, but a lousy master. We need global political strategies to foster a sustainable global future, and we must dare to use politics, act like politicians and be progressive leaders in our countries.
Several years ago, the Swedish Social Democrats adopted a coherent approach to sustainable development, not least to sustainable provisioning of energy. Our long-term goal is to base all our energy on renewable sources.
Sustainable development was the overall goal of the Swedish Social Democratic government, when I was Minister for Sustainable Development.
We are well on the way to quintupling production from wind energy by 2010, and we all know how great the possibilities are there. We launched the target of ending Sweden’s dependence on oil, gas and coal by the year 2020.
But we lost the election and today we have a Conservative Government which likes to tell the European Union what we have achieved in Sweden, rather than to develop new strategies. That’s a way other European Governments cannot follow, because we are losing time and momentum.
While the ices are melting.
While the temperature is rising.
While the climate refugees are moving.
When the voters start to understand this – and they will, in Sweden they surely do already – the voters will not like populism in this area. They want real change. They will hunt down the politicians in the next election that don’t deliver true facts, honest answers and real change.
The progressive forces in Governments around the globe have to do their own home-work to be trustworthy. We know that we neither will solve these crises, nor any other, if we don’t have the capacity to make domestic progress, cooperate internationally and show solidarity. The crises are global, but the solutions must be local, because we live local, we drive our cars locally, we transport ourselves locally. We eat locally. So that’s where the solutions must be.
We progressives know that no policy makers can avoid the future challenges of sustainability.
The voters will turn us down if we can’t explain the reasons and show results.
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