Fossil-free food production has become a new campaign issue in Sweden, where the Green Party (Miljöpartiet) wants the government to develop a national strategy to reduce agriculture’s dependence on fossil inputs, from diesel-powered machinery to fertilisers and pesticides.
The proposal was presented by party spokesperson Amanda Lind (språkrör) as part of the campaign ahead of Sweden’s September election. The Greens argue that wars and international supply shocks have exposed vulnerabilities in the Swedish food system, where fossil fuels still affect both production costs and consumer prices.
Green Party links food security to fossil dependence
According to the Green Party, Swedish agriculture remains exposed to global fossil fuel markets because key parts of food production still rely on fossil-based products. These include chemical pesticides, mineral fertilisers, transport and agricultural machinery.
“When the price of fossil fuels goes up, the price of food also goes up,” Lind said at a press conference.
The proposal places food security within a broader climate and resilience agenda. For the Greens, reducing fossil dependence is not only a climate measure, but also a way to protect farmers and consumers from volatile energy markets.
Electric tractors and farm energy storage at the centre of the plan
The Green Party wants Sweden to increase the number of electric tractors and support farms that produce and store their own renewable energy.
One of the party’s proposals is a “green deduction” for farms investing in systems such as solar panels and batteries. The measure would aim to make farms less dependent on external energy prices and help them become small-scale producers of renewable electricity.
The party also wants the state to provide funding for farms and businesses willing to test new technologies. Lind said public support should go to those “who dare to drive development and want to be at the forefront”.
Biogas becomes a key election theme for Swedish agriculture
Another central part of the Green Party’s proposal is a sharp increase in biogas production. The party wants Sweden to multiply domestic biogas output by five, arguing that biogas can replace fossil fuels in transport, industry and parts of the agricultural sector.
Biogas is particularly relevant for farming because it can be produced from manure, food waste, crops and residues from agriculture and forestry. This makes it both an energy source and a circular economy tool.
The proposal also connects with the party’s broader campaign message on reducing Sweden’s dependence on fossil oil and gas. Earlier this spring, the Greens called for Sweden to become self-sufficient in biofuels, presenting domestic biogas as a strategic resource for preparedness and climate policy.
A climate target with practical obstacles
Sweden has a legally anchored climate objective to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Agriculture remains one of the more complex sectors to decarbonise, because its emissions are not limited to fuel use. Methane from livestock and nitrous oxide from soils are also major sources of agricultural emissions.
Fossil Free Sweden has estimated that agriculture accounted for 6.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, equal to about 13 percent of Sweden’s total emissions. This makes the sector important for climate policy, but also difficult to transform through electrification alone.
The Green Party’s proposal therefore focuses on the parts of agriculture where fossil inputs can be reduced more directly: machinery, transport, fertilisers, pesticides and farm-level energy systems.
Food prices enter Sweden’s green election debate
The proposal shows how climate policy is becoming increasingly linked to cost-of-living concerns in Sweden’s election campaign. Instead of presenting the transition only as an emissions issue, the Green Party is framing fossil-free agriculture as a way to stabilise food production and reduce exposure to international crises.
The political challenge will be whether the plan can convince farmers that the transition will be economically viable. Electric machinery, batteries and renewable energy systems require significant upfront investment, while many farms already operate with tight margins.
For Sweden, the debate reflects a broader Nordic and European question: how to make food systems more resilient while cutting emissions. As energy security, climate targets and food prices increasingly overlap, agriculture is likely to remain a central issue in the Swedish campaign.
