The Green Party in the Summer Heat: We Demand a Crisis Plan for the Weather

The Green Party’s spokespersons Daniel Helldén and Amanda Lind are demanding that the government develop a national crisis plan for extreme heat. In an opinion piece in Aftonbladet, they issue harsh criticism of the government’s work on climate adaptation and argue that Sweden is poorly prepared for future heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

According to the Green Party, the government has deprioritized preventive climate adaptation even as extreme weather events become increasingly common. The party directs particular criticism at the Minister for Civil Defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin.

Yet the government looks the other way, and instead of preventive measures and crisis preparedness has withdrawn funding for climate adaptation. Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Minister for Civil Defense, is notably absent. This is not acceptable.

To support their criticism, the Green Party cites recent European heatwaves, flooding in northern Sweden, and previous issues with water supply as examples showing that extreme weather events have become more common.

Five Measures Proposed

In the opinion piece, the Green Party presents five proposals that they believe the government should implement. The proposals include, among other things, information campaigns about how the public should act during extreme heat, training for healthcare and care staff, more public buildings to serve as cool gathering spaces during heatwaves, and better access to drinking water in public places.

The party also wants climate adaptation to be more closely linked to Sweden’s crisis preparedness through a permanent parliamentary committee, inspired by the Defense Commission. In addition, increased government funding is proposed to help municipalities finance climate adaptation measures.

We demand that the government urgently develop a crisis plan for extreme heat, with both short-term and long-term measures.

Total Defense Should Address Climate Issues

A central part of the Green Party’s proposals is that climate adaptation should play a greater role in civil defense and crisis preparedness efforts. The argument is that extreme weather should increasingly be treated as a national preparedness issue.

Critics have also pointed out that many of the proposals—such as information campaigns, more public gathering places, and increased government grants—are largely based on expanded public investment, without the opinion piece detailing how these would be funded.

The Green Party concludes with further criticism of the government’s climate policy.

– The government has not only fueled the climate crisis with policies that have led to increased emissions, but they have also removed important funding for climate adaptation. It’s time to act. We demand a crisis plan for extreme heat.