Sweden’s far right defines its vision of climate action.
In a video produced for the 2022 Swedish general election campaign, the leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats poses at a petrol station. “1300 SEK [£100] to fill the tank of a regular Volvo! Do we want it to be like this?” he asks, petrol pump flashing in the background. “If you want something else, vote for the Sweden Democrats.” Since dubbed the “energy election” by political scientists, much of the campaign was fought not on the usual issues of immigration or crime but on energy and climate. Electricity and fuel prices, along with nuclear energy, dominated, particularly in the final days and weeks before polling.
In the end, the Sweden Democrats achieved a stunning success, surpassing the right-wing Moderates for the first time. In doing so they became the country’s largest right-of-centre party. This was by no means unexpected; the far right surged in the decade leading up to the election, growing from zero seats in the 2006 parliament, with under 3 per cent of the vote, to 73 in 2022, with 20.5 per cent of the vote. They are now firmly established as one of Europe’s most powerful parties of the emergent far right.
In response, the other parties of the Swedish right tore down the cordon sanitaire, forming a coalition with Sweden Democrats in the historic Tidö Agreement signed in October of that year. For the first time, the Sweden Democrats were invited into the halls of power, and into the mainstream of Swedish politics.
The Wedge
As the centre-left Swedish commentator Ingvar Persson recently noted, “SD now controls Swedish climate politics.” The climate backsliding is well underway. Since 2022, many of the country’s relatively ambitious climate and energy policies have been rolled back, while its emissions have risen sharply.
In 1991, Sweden became the first country in the world to implement a carbon tax. Between 1990 and 2021, it managed to cut a third of its emissions and almost fully decarbonize its power sector. Its net zero target was set for 2045, and its ambitious HYBRIT plan aimed to green the heavily emitting steel industry. In 2022, the country banned further exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. All these gains are now at risk.