Sweden’s government has appointed a commission of inquiry to offer proposals on when and how sales of new fossil fuel cars, and fossil fuels themselves, should be phased out. The group is also tasked with developing a plan to bring about the same changes in the EU as a whole.

The commission is to propose a year by which fossil fuels should be phased out in Sweden, and the measures needed for this to happen in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Sven Hunhammar, Director of Sustainability and Environment at the Swedish Transport Administration, has been named the commission’s chair. The inquiry’s findings are due February 1, 2021.

“Sweden will be the world’s first fossil-free welfare nation,” said Per Bolund, Sweden’s Minister for Financial Markets and Housing. “The transport sector is responsible for a third of Sweden’s emissions of greenhouse gases, and thus has a significant role to play in the climate transition.”

Source: Government Offices of Sweden
Image: Nicolas Raymond