Sweden announced [press release] Thursday that it has agreed upon a new framework for its climate policy. The framework promises zero greenhouse emissions by 2045. Pending approval from parliament, the bill will go into effect in January 2018. Long-term goals and binding authority will work to ensure the measure will be productive. In an interview [AP report] with the Associated Press, Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin praised the investments made by China to improve its stance on the environment, and criticized the US. Lövin said the measure should act as an example at a time where climate-change skeptics are gaining more power.

Climate change is an international concern. In November a US federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that a lawsuit against the US government over failure to limit the emission of greenhouse gasses can proceed. That same month governments around the world agreed [JURIST report] to legally binding limits on global temperature rises as the Paris Agreement [text, PDF] on climate change became effective. One of the biggest hurdles to reaching an agreement was getting China and the US [JURIST report] to sign on, the two countries being the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, collectively responsible for about 40 percent of all gasses emitted.