Sweden has for some time had a central place in the merging of the US, NATO countries and EU campaign against those who oppose increased militarization and rapprochement with NATO. This is done by branding them as Kremlin’s Trojan horses or carriers of Russian disinformation. It is at the Swedish embassy in Washington that this merger has largely taken place, partly before an open curtain.

A key player has been the US-based think tank Atlantic Council, which since 2013 has been funded by Sweden, among others, with Carl Bildt, Wallenberg and SAAB as three Swedish members in its international council with a total of 37 members.

At these meetings, the transatlantic community of values has been emphasized with a common struggle against Russian disinformation as a collective purpose. In a chapter on Sweden in the report Kremlin’s Trojan Horses 3.0, the Atlantic Council has pointed out carriers of Russian disinformation within the Left Party, people like Valter Mutt in the Green Party and the independent environmental movement and its cooperation with the peace movement as particularly serious threats.

This fight against what NATO calls global system competitors in the form of Russia and China is now woven together in NATO’s geopolitical climate policy. NATO sees itself as system administrators in a unified security and climate policy where the fight against opposing peace and environmental voices is part of the fight against foreign disinformation.

The basis for this was revived with the expert report NATO 2030 United for a New Era presented in November 2020. NATO’s role in a systemic response to the climate crisis was established at the NATO summit in June 2021.

In connection with the NATO meeting, the Brussels forum was organized by NATO and the German Marshall Fund together. Here, Anna Wieslander, chair of the Atlantic Council in Northern Europe with offices together with the Swedish Foreign Policy Institute and the Swedish National Defense College, played a prominent role in formulating NATO’s climate policy. NATO can set the standard for long-term planning and how governments, business and civil society can work together to solve the problems, a policy in direct conflict with the popular movements that see large corporations gaining influence over the UN and the environmental policy agenda as the cause of the social and ecological crisis.

As early as January 2021, a meeting was held at the Swedish Embassy in Washington on how organizations such as Homeland Security and MSB should respond to the climate crisis. The very broad focus on transatlantic cooperation was summarized by Anna Wieslander in a publication published by MSB.

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The meetings at the Swedish embassy are described in this article in ETC:
Do not include Sweden in NATO propaganda
https://www.etc.se/debatt/inordna-inte-sverige-i-natopropaganda (Swedish)

NATO 2030 United for a New Era
Analysis and Recommendation by the Reflection Group appointed by the NATO General Secretary, 25 November 2020
Climate and Green Defense, p41
https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/12/pdf/201201-Reflection-Group-Final-Report-Uni.pdf

NATO’s strategy for 2030, Geir Hem, Stop NATO Norway analyzes NATO United for a New Era, is translated into Swedish in No to NATO Gazette No. 3.
https://stoppnato.no/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NATO-strategi-2030.pdf (Norwegian)
Heim points out that NATO strives to become a system administrator with a far wider mandate than military defense issues. However, the climate section is not as well developed as in that direction.

NATO Climate Change and Security Action Plan, 14 June 2021
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_185174.htm

“the Alliance has a role to play in a comprehensive response to climate change”

“NATO will strengthen exchanges with partner countries, as well as with international and regional organizations that are active on climate change and security issues, including the EU, the UN, and others, where appropriate. NATO will also increase dialogue with civil society, academia and industry on climate change and security issues, to support its work and contribute to the global response to climate change. “

The official document from the NATO Summit 2021 points to the system administration ambition of NATO, other organizations are tasked with responding to the climate threat more directly, but NATO has a role not only in defense issues but also in the overall action, including partner countries, civil society, academic institutions and industry are among those with which NATO will strengthen its exchange on the intertwined issue of climate and security.