New government report proposes tougher penalties for environmental crimes

Last week, a report from the Swedish Government (SOU 2025:14) was published in which several measures were proposed to strengthen the environmental criminal law and improve the possibilities to detect, investigate and prosecute environmental crimes. For instance, it proposes a stricter penalty scale, a shift in sanctions to better utilize the resources of the law enforcement authorities and more rigorous suitability tests for conducting environmentally hazardous activities. The purpose of the proposed measures is to make environmentally impacting industries less attractive for criminal activity and to ensure effective and legally certain treatment of environmental offenses.

Environmental crimes have been identified as a growing threat to both the environment and society. Frequent links between environmental and economic crimes have been recognised, and environmental crimes are considered an important source of income for organized crime. The government therefore commissioned the inquiry to review the system of environmental sanctions and evaluate how environmental criminal law can be strengthened.

The proposed amendments to the law include, among other things, that the sentencing body, when assessing what constitutes a serious environmental crime, in addition to taking into account whether the act has caused or could have caused damage on a large scale or otherwise been of a particularly dangerous nature, from now on must attach particular importance to whether the act has been part of a crime that has been carried out systematically, in an organized form, or for profit. In addition, a stricter scale of penalties is proposed for intentional environmental crimes, environmental crimes of the normal degree and serious environmental crimes.

A new waste crime is proposed, targeting businesses or other activities, carried out habitually or on a large scale, which dispose of waste in an unauthorized manner. Environmental crimes linked to waste management have been identified as particularly prevalent in connection with organized crime. Meanwhile, the criminal provisions of Chapter 29 of the Environmental Code have been criticized for being complicated and difficult to apply, for example, in the case of criminal disposal of waste.

As a measure to prevent environmental crimes, a more extensive suitability test of the operator is proposed, a so-called “good repute test”. Under current regulations, the supervisory authorities have limited possibility to conduct a suitability test during permit assessments, and regarding notifiable activities it is non-existent. The inquiry proposes that a permit should be refused to anyone who is not considered suitable to carry out environmentally hazardous activities after a suitability test, and that the same requirements should apply to notifiable activities. In addition, it is proposed that the suitability requirements apply when an activity is merged or transferred, or when a new person with significant influence over the activity is added. A person with significant influence may, for example, be a CEO, board member or a person with a large shareholding.

Furthermore, a broad shift in sanctions is proposed, with more violations of the law leading to environmental fines instead of criminal sanctions. Under the current rules, the supervisory authorities’ ability to impose environmental fines is limited to simple situations that does not require investigation or judicial assessment. This results in a heavy burden on the criminal investigation authorities. To solve the problem, it is proposed that the supervisory authorities should be given greater power to impose fines for less serious infringements. According to the report, the expected consequences include that violations of the law will be investigated to a greater extent, more serious crimes will be prevented, and the law enforcement authorities will be able to focus on more serious crimes with a stronger link to the primary protection interests of the Environmental Code.

To further enhance investigations of environmental crimes, the report highlights the importance of cooperation between authorities. It is therefore proposed that the Swedish Police Authority will be put in charge of a national cooperation function and the county administrative boards for a regional one. The purpose of the cooperation functions is to continuously identify, monitor and analyze the risks and methods of environmental crimes at national and regional level and to serve as a forum for exchange of information and knowledge.

When implementing these changes, the inquiry proposes that a new Environmental Penalties Act should be introduced to replace Chapter 29 of the Environmental Code. The main purpose of the amendment is to make the rules more transparent and effective, but the change also carries symbolic value according to the report. By moving environmental criminal law from the Environmental Code, it is signalled that environmental crimes are criminal acts and not a matter of environmental policy. Furthermore, the change is expected to promote the distinction between the roles and responsibilities of supervisory and law enforcement authorities.

For a business operator, the proposal as currently worded, entails a more extensive assessment with regards to the suitability of the operator in the case of activities subjected to a permit or notification. The proposal will also have consequences in the event of, for example, business mergers or transactions, major stock exchanges, the election of board members or the employment of persons with significant influence in the company. According to the proposal, it will be the responsibility of the business to inform the licensing authority if a new person with significant influence join the business, to enable the authority to conduct a suitability test. The proposal is intended to result in fairer competition on the market for serious operators.

The new Environmental Crimes Act and the proposed amendments are proposed to enter into force on July 1, 2026

Setterwalls follows the ongoing legislative process with great interest. You are welcome to contact us for advice on questions regarding permits for environmentally hazardous activities, corporate transactions or other issues related to how the legislative amendments may affect your business.