Meet Romina Pourmokhtari, 26-year-old climate minister of Sweden

A 26-year-old has been named as climate minister by newly elected prime minister Ulf Kristersson in Sweden.

Romina Pourmokhtari was until now the head of the Liberal People's Party's youth wing and was not known to have climate as her political profile, AFP reported.

She thus became the youngest person to lead a ministry in Sweden. The previous record was 27 years.


Ulf Kristersson leads a right-wing coalition that is backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats pledged to support the government in exchange for policy commitments, especially on immigration and crime.

Pourmokhtari was born into a family of Iranian origin in the suburbs of Stockholm. She was in the past a big critic of Kristersson's decision to ally with the Sweden Democrats.

"Ulf Kristersson without SD - Absolutely. Ulf Kristersson with SD - No thanks," she once wrote on Twitter.

Pourmokhtari has become the minister of climate and environment in the country of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg who heads a global climate movement.

About 20% of Sweden's 10 million residents are foreign-born, many of them refugees from war-torn countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The new Cabinet consists of 24 ministers — 13 men and 11 women. Thirteen are Moderates, six are Christian Democrats and five are Liberals.

The three center-right parties secured a majority in Parliament after the Sept. 11 elections with the help of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party. Together the upset the Social Democrats, who have dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s.