Sweden should keep coal in the ground, not sell it off | May Boeve

Prime minister Stefan Lifven should keep his election promise of clean energy and not let state-owned Vattenfall sell its coal mines to EPH

The history of the fossil fuel industry can feel like it is told in complicated deals the public isn't meant to understand. This is what is happening in Sweden. The government-owned energy company, Vattenfall, is demanding the sale of its coal mines and power plants based in Germany to a Czech company, EPH. The deal includes some of Germany's largest coal mines - and three of the top 10 most polluting coal plants in Europe. They are going to a deeply unattractive buyer - EPH, a company hell-bent on burning as much coal as possible.

In the next couple of weeks, Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lifven, is facing a stark choice. On one hand, he could approve the sale of the most climate-destroying assets in Europe, breaking his own election promises in the process. Or, he could promote a transition to keep coal in the ground - and support a liveable climate - in an unprecedented decision by a government to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels, and lignite or 'brown coal' is the most polluting type of coal and the greatest threat to EU climate goals.