Thousands rally in Sweden to protest climate policies ahead of general election

Around 10,000 people marched in Stockholm on Sunday for a protest against human-made climate change, just weeks ahead of a general election where the issue is among Swedish voters' top concerns.

"We are so many people who are concerned about this problem," said 21-year-old student Kliff Lindberg, who added that he was "relieved" to see such a strong turnout.

"That gives me a lot of strength and it's beautiful to see, I think."

Experts in Sweden and abroad have warned that the government's climate policy jeopardises the country's emissions-cutting goals – to reduce CO2 emissions from transport by 70 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.

Since taking power in 2022, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing government has cut petrol taxes and reduced requirements for petrol suppliers to add low-carbon alternatives to their mix.

The government has notably rejected a commission's recommendations on ways to meet the 2030 target, which included phasing out fossil fuels by hiking taxes on petrol and diesel.

Swedes will elect a new parliament on September 13, with the right-wing bloc trailing in opinion polls.

The rally in the capital, organised by youth and sporting groups, unions, rural associations and rights groups, included Sweden's most famous climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

"There is absolutely no party in Sweden who are even proposing politics in line with anything close to what science says will take for us to avoid a climate disaster," Thunberg told AFP.

"If we continue like now we will see collapse, we are already seeing collapse," she said.

'Climate crisis is very real'

According to a Verian opinion poll published by public broadcaster SVT on Thursday, 37 percent of respondents said the climate was a top priority in the election.

The government has argued that the phase-out of fossil fuels must be gradual in order to preserve and strengthen Sweden's competitiveness and its companies.

But organisers of the demonstration argued that urgent action was needed.

"The climate crisis is very real, and it is here," said Beatrice Rindevall, head of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, which is co-organising Sunday's demonstration.

"It is time to put in place a climate policy that reduces emissions right now," she added in a statement, pointing to this summer's devastating heatwaves in Europe.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)