Climate Change just changed Sweden forever
It’s now or never for the climate change movement in Sweden and globally. The recent report “hothouse Earth” lay out how close, real and existential the threat of climate change may become to all of us. In the summer of 2018 Sweden woke up to an alarming situation that to some extent is due to climate change.
You may not associate Sweden with mass slaughter of livestock due to zero rain fall in months and topic heat (above 30 degrees Celsius or above 86 Fahrenheit), wiped out harvest and raging wildfires. But like the other the Nordic countries this is the story of the Summer of 2018. And if we don’t change now, it may become ‘the new normal’.
So climate turmoil has hit the Swedish elections due to the worst wildfires and drought in decades that ravaged the countryside and even came near to reach central parts of it’s capital Stockholm. May 2018 was the warmest month of May on record and we also had the most severe, many and long-stretched wildfires and a serious food crisis for many decades. This has changed the game for the upcoming election. We covered the extreme weather and events in detail in the second half of the blog post “Innocence lost — extreme weather is going crazy this summer”.
In Sweden there are 349 members in the parliament, the Riksdag to safeguard and honor our trust in the Swedish democracy. The national elections are held every four years. There are eight political parties that each have received more than 4 per cent of the votes with entitles them to a seats in the Riksdag. The September 9 election mark a time of turmoil in our global world as in Sweden.
But only in recent weeks and only extremely few politicians connect the dots of the extreme drought, wildfires and food crisis is being at least partly a result of climate change. Or shall we say, extremely few have dared saying so out in public. Until now. This July the Deputy Prime Minister, Isabella Lövin (The Green Party) said enough is enough and that she would no longer “under-emphasize” the threats of climate change. But at that level she is quite alone in doing so.
This is somewhat strange since Sweden’s ruling politicians have pledged to become the first fossil free country in the world. This is to be fulfilled in only 27 years. That may seems like a long time but really it’s the opposite. We need a revelation and a revolution to get there. The road ahead to a decarbonized Sweden and world is not laid out and it will not be build by itself nor travelled without overcoming many hurdles. So what do our politicians promises to us in regards to the climate crisis?
Climate Resolution made by members of the Swedish parliament
We Don’t Have Time offer at no cost and little effort everyone the ability to record a personal climate resolution. It is a tool of WeDontHaveTime.org.
We have also asked the spokespersons responsible for climate and environmental affairs within all eight political parties of the Riksdag to record their own resolutions. Some have even had the help of the photographer Adam Johansson. You can watch some of them below (all are in Swedish). Five political parties are represented in having posted their climate pledges.
Please watch:
Maria Malmer Stenergard, Moderaterna (The Moderate Party)
Åsa Westlund, Socialdemokraterna (The Social Democrats)
Stina Bergström (The Green Party)
Lars Tysklind, (The Liberal party)
Jens Holm, Vänsterpartiet (The Left Party)
Other members of the Swedish Parliament who recorded their resolutions include Lorentz Tovatt (The Green Party) and Gustav Fridolin (The Green Party)
To finish off: Climate change is here and now — even in parts that some would expect think would be least affected by climate change. If you haven’t read it already it’s time to get familiar with We Don’t Have Time manifesto.
If you are a Swede: please act like on what we have experienced this summer is for real and may become the new normal. Climate science, facts and own experiences matter most on September 9th.
All other citizens of the world: Please study vigorously the climate policies, promises made and action taken of your members of parliament! I’m sure you can apply the same principle in your home country.
Mårten Thorslund, Chief Marketing Officer, WeDontHaveTime.org
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