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Under its right-wing government, Sweden’s emissions have started going in the wrong direction

In the run-up to the EU elections, climate is once again an issue for voters, with climate activist Greta Thunberg leading protests at Stockholm’s parliament

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a rally in Malmö in protest against Israel's participation in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Photograph: Johan Nilsson/AFP via Getty Images
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a rally in Malmö in protest against Israel's participation in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Photograph: Johan Nilsson/AFP via Getty Images
Erik Nilsson
Tue May 14 2024 - 05:45

Another day. Another incident involving Greta Thunberg being removed by police.

The world-famous climate activist, wearing a Palestinian scarf, was one of those taken away by police in Malmö on Saturday as 15,000 protesters marched outside the Malmö arena before the Eurovision final.

The sight of Thunberg being hauled away, a police officer on each arm, sometimes with her knees dragging on the ground, is not a novel one. This spring, Thunberg installed herself at the Parliament building in the centre of Stockholm. Together with another climate activist, she blocked the entrance. The site is just a stone’s throw away from where the school strikes started a few years ago. The message is also the same, but the act is more obstructive. “We are in an acute crisis, a planetary emergency. Those of us who can act have a moral responsibility to do so,” Thunberg said.

Last week, she was found guilty and fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police orders during an environmental protest in March. “We are currently heading in the wrong direction towards a very unstable and dangerous future,” she said afterwards.

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Greta Thunberg is arrested during a protest outside the venue of the Energy Intelligence Forum on October 17th, 2023. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg
Greta Thunberg is arrested during a protest outside the venue of the Energy Intelligence Forum on October 17th, 2023. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg

In recent years, climate change has been one of the most contentious issues in Swedish politics. And it looks set to play a big role in the European elections. A number of opinion polls have shown that Swedes rank climate policy at the top when asked what the EU should prioritise. Those polls suggest that the climate issue is considered more important in the European elections than it is in national politics.

“The Swedish government has identified the EU level as the most important climate policy arena and that this is where policy can have the greatest impact,” says Naghmeh Nasiritousi, who researches climate policy at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and Linköping University.

The economist John Hassler has been commissioned by the government to investigate how national climate policy should relate to European policy. He says that Sweden’s self-image is one of being “best in class”, but that this has had to be reconsidered as the EU steps up its climate targets. “For a long time, Swedes have seen climate policy as a national issue. Suddenly, almost out of the blue, they have realised that the EU is making demands that are tougher and more ambitious in some respects.”

Sweden has one of the lowest per-capita emissions in the EU, but the trend is going in the wrong direction. Emissions are increasing.

Since the 2022 elections, Sweden has been governed by a right-wing coalition. The three-party liberal-conservative government, together with its partner, the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats, have made a number of reforms to bring down the skyrocketing prices of diesel and petrol. And now forecasts point to sharply increased emissions and missed national climate targets.

Climate change has become one of the opposition’s main points of attack. But among the ruling parties too, the climate issue has been the cause of serious turbulence. The Sweden Democrats are the only party in the Swedish parliament that did not vote for the national climate targets in 2017, and the party has remained sceptical about any policy that works towards the targets. On several climate-related issues, the coalition government has found itself at loggerheads with the Sweden Democrats and has been forced into tough negotiations.

[ Greta Thunberg detained by police at climate protest in The Hague ]

The Swedish government has praised the EU’s Fit For 55 pact – the EU’s target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 – while the Sweden Democrats’ top figure in the European Parliament has said that it should be unravelled. “[That]’s not on the map,” said Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson in a TV interview.

In Swedish society, climate activism has become increasingly visible. And it’s not all about Greta Thunberg. Motorways have been blocked, parliamentary debates have been interrupted from the public gallery, and popular TV programmes have been stormed. “Activism is important to stir up public opinion and show that there is support for a more ambitious climate policy,” says Nasiritousi. “But it also risks becoming polarising. Many say, for example, that it is an anti-democratic form of expression, even though civil disobedience is part of democracy.”

Erik Nilsson is a political reporter at Svenska Dagbladet, one of Sweden’s main morning newspapers. This article is part of the Voices of Europe 2024 collaborative project, involving 27 media outlets from all over the EU and co-ordinated by Voxeurop.