Bilateral environmental and climate cooperation

The purpose of bilateral cooperation

The purpose of bilateral cooperation is to:

• exchange experience on environmental management
• support the implementation of commitments made within the EU or international convention efforts
• pursue Sweden’s key issues in international environmental governance
• build alliances
• create understanding for others’ positions in international negotiations.

The bilateral cooperation is a part of Sweden’s environmental politics and occurs within the framework of Swedish government’s policy for global development.

Why these countries?

The Swedish government has pointed out the BRIICS countries, among others, as a priority for bilateral cooperation. BRIICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, and South Africa. These are countries with large economies and with regionally- or globally important environmental impact. Due to Russias military aggression against Ukraine, cooperation with Russia is paused since 24 February 2022.

We previously also cooperated with Viet Nam, where our long time good experience and contacts with the country’s authorities still remain.

What do we do?

We cooperate primarily within the areas of

• Coordinated management from Source to Sea
• Ocean governance with a focus on marine spatial planning
• Offshore energy production
• Water management

Cooperation with strategic countries in the field of environment and climate

The Swedish government has a specific fund for bilateral cooperation with strategic countries in the field of environment and climate. The bilateral cooperation is carried out by:

• The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
• The Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI)
• The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
• The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI)
• the Council of the Baltic Sea States.