The government has recently published "A Swedish Strategy for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services," which aims to slow down and reverse the ongoing loss of biodiversity in Sweden by 2030. The strategy will be reported to the UN and included in the global follow-up of the Kunming–Montreal targets.
The strategy emphasizes the importance of business and highlights the business network Business & Biodiversity Sweden, which brings together large companies and industry organizations to integrate biodiversity into their business models. The roadmaps from the industry organizations Svemins Mining with Nature (2020) and SBMI's roadmap (2025) are also mentioned as good practices. Ecogain has been involved in these initiatives, which show how industry can combine consideration for nature with business benefits.
The document has been criticized for being too general and lacking concrete measures. Many point in particular to the absence of a clear target to protect 30 percent of the land area, which is considered necessary to slow down the loss of biodiversity. In addition, there are calls for clearer binding targets and instruments for industry and other actors.
" The strategy outlines Sweden's ongoing work, but it could benefit from including more concrete measures and clearer targets to make it easier for the business sector to invest in biodiversity," says Josefin Olsson, Corporate Lawyer at Ecogain.
Anders Mankler, Business Manager at Ecogain, comments in Environment & Development about the government's new biodiversity strategy, saying that it is important that it has finally been presented, even though it largely summarises already known challenges. He particularly highlights nature restoration as a key issue where companies need to stay one step ahead of upcoming EU requirements.
The entire strategy is available here: The government's strategy for biodiversity
