On Thursday evening, researcher Maria Börjesson and Sweden's Minister of Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth, met in a debate on the topic. Maria Börjesson began by criticizing the construction of the new pedestrian paths, as she believes that the social benefits are so low in relation to the gigantic costs of doing so.
But Thomas Eneroth (S) replied that there is a need for investments on the railway because for a long time it was not possible to invest in Sweden's railway network and well-functioning trains are needed to achieve the climate goals.
- It is clear that we must invest to both increase the conditions for achieving the climate goals. So that more people can travel climate smart and companies can send goods on the trains but to do that we have to increase the number of tracks in Sweden and then we have to build new pedestrian paths.
The construction itself causes major emissions
However, Maria Börjesson believes that the climate benefits for the construction of new pedigrees are very small, which she believes is that the emissions for the construction of pedigrees themselves lead to large emissions. Instead, she suggests electrifying the road sector, which Eneroth does not think is enough.
- We are now building electric roads and electrifying infrastructure, but that will not suffice. We need to electrify the entire transport sector to meet the climate goals, Eneroth says, and continues:
- This is about mordenising the entire Swedish infrastructure and meeting the climate goals. Then it is not enough to see if the airline can solve these alternatives or discuss a slow change of road transport.