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Another day. Another manhandling arrest of Greta Thunberg. The world-famous climate activist, wearing a purple Palestinian scarf, is hauled away, knees dragging on the ground, a police officer on each arm.
This spring, Thunberg has installed herself at the Parliament building in the centre of Stockholm. Together with another climate activist, she has been blocking 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.
In recent years, climate change has been one of the most contentious issues in Swedish politics.
And it looks set to play a major 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.
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 thi…
