Letter to the editor. Stop all peat mining in Sweden

Now bags are stacked with cultivation soil outside the shops – a spring sign that is less good for climate emissions and durability as most soil bags contain peat. Soon, work machines roll out on the peat sessions to plan another layer of old fossil peat.

Emissions of climate gases must decrease immediately, which also applies to emissions from forest and land, where peat has an important role. Peat are dead plant parts that have accumulated for thousands of years in wet ground, and when drained it becomes back to carbon dioxide.

The emissions from ditched peatlands and peat mining were in 2023 of 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. The peat mining that takes place in Sweden corresponds to an emission of 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. More than half are consumed in Sweden as energy and cultivation houses and the rest goes to exporting countries.

For energy peat Must emission rights must be paid, which is not needed for cultivation. Therefore, more and more peat is going to cultivation, which is thus given a state subsidy.

Biofuel manufacturer Neova and the peat industry do what they can to continue the profitable peat mining with many misleading arguments. Here are some:

• Peat is renewable and what is planted in peat soil absorbs carbon dioxide. It is false because what is grown neither gives up or emissions, while the peat releases « old » stored coal.

• The peat provides cultivation soil for Sweden to cope with its food supply. No food is grown mainly on arable land that is not peat soil and pot soil can be done otherwise.

• The use of peat -based soil contributes to bustling wetlands and carbon -binding forests. No, on the contrary, it becomes a devastated wetland and total loss of carbon from the ecosystem. One must not be fooled by the peat industry’s green painting, where peat is sold wrapped and is called « plain flower soil » or « cow manure », but contains 50 percent peat. The peat can be replaced with leaf compost, bark mole and other plant materials, which have been used before. Such soil can already be purchased if you look a little.

Minister of Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari (L) Says Be a politician who wants to solve problems for real and phase out peat mining altogether. It is then completely absurd that new peat breaking permits are granted in Sweden.

Between 2020 and 2022, the county administrative boards granted ten new ones, and in January 2025, the Land and Environmental Court approved a mining on the Blackatorpsmoss in Skåne for 20 years.

The parliamentary Environmental Objective Committee (MMB) Missed the possibility of giving proposals that will cope with the condition to cope with the EU law on increased net uptake of carbon dioxide in forest and land by 2030. MMB proposes next year a stop for new revenues and applications for extension, but revenues with ongoing permits will pass on and the last peak will only be closed in 25 years.

It is of course good To stop granting new permits, but the preparation added a fireplace that permits can continue to be granted if peat is needed as emergency fuel, which can give the peat companies one possibly to get around a stop.

There is a need for a stop for all peat mining and also stops for the sale of peat in Sweden.

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