Sweden’s key messages for global climate action are urgency based on science to increase the pace of work and opportunities in the form of improved competitiveness, new jobs and growth, as well as innovation and development. Sweden is also one of the world’s most generous international climate finance donors, which contributes to both emissions reduction and climate adaptation.
Sweden highlights the Swedish business community’s solutions for reduced emissions and greater resilience, and how such solutions can contribute to a faster transition. After the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 in Baku, Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari and Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa sent a letter to the parties to the Paris Agreement to highlight that there are a number of technical solutions and innovations that could already be applied in climate work and that Swedish companies can offer.
Sweden as the climate matchmaker
Business Sweden published its report ‘Sweden – The Climate Matchmaker for Global Action’ report during UN Climate Week in September 2025. The report has been produced for COP30 to help countries match their climate challenges with existing Swedish solutions and thereby dare to raise the ambition of their national climate plans (NDCs) and make them more feasible and attractive for public and private investment.
The Swedish offering is embodied in the ‘Sweden – The Climate Matchmaker’ campaign, in which areas of interest can be matched with solutions.
Business Sweden is responsible for the Swedish Pavilion at COP30 and will also bring a delegation of Swedish government agencies and companies from a number of different sectors to COP30.
A generous donor of international climate finance
Sweden is one of the world’s most generous donors of international climate finance. This will contribute to both emissions reductions and climate adaptation. Through climate aid, Sweden contributed to the world reaching the goal of USD 100 billion in global climate finance a year by 2022. Since then, the Swedish Government has made substantial investments to further expand and improve the efficiency of climate aid. In 2024, Swedish climate aid reached a record high at just over SEK 11.1 billion, an increase of SEK 1.5 billion compared to the previous year. Compared with 2022, this is an increase of around SEK 2.5 billion, approximately 29 per cent.
Sweden is one of the largest donors to multilateral development banks and climate funds such as the Global Environment Fund and the Green Climate Fund.
The government agencies play an important role
Several Swedish government agencies are working on support for capacity building and climate investments on behalf of the Government.
The Swedish Energy Agency
The Swedish Energy Agency is responsible for Sweden’s international climate action programme. The aim is to develop international collaborations and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Swedish Energy Agency is working to develop international climate cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. As a result, Sweden today has cooperation agreements under the Paris Agreement with a number of countries, for example, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal, and cooperates with various international organisations.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency conducts a number of bilateral collaborations with a large number of countries in various projects in the field of environment and climate. This makes it possible to develop effective environmental administration and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda and to Sweden’s own environmental quality objectives.
One example is the Strengthening Zambian Mining Governance in The Nexus of Environment, Human Rights, and Climate (ZAMNEX) programme, which aims to improve the sustainability of the Zambian mining sector with focus on aspects of the environment, human rights and climate change. This project concluded in September 2026.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency also has the role of national focal point for gender equality and climate change under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement states that the climate transition must take place with regard to human rights and that it must promote gender equality. Gender equality has been part of the Climate Convention since 2001 and is now a permanent agenda item at meetings of the parties. In 2025, a new action plan is expected to be adopted at COP30 in Belém.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) is responsible for Sweden’s development cooperation. It focuses on the themes that are considered especially important for combating global poverty, including climate and the environment. Sida’s bilateral support goes to 36 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Sida specifically works with climate and the environment through targeted projects and climate and environment programmes; climate- and environmental integration within other sectors dialogue and policy advocacy and capital mobilisation.
