Most Swedes link Europe’s wildfires to climate change

Nearly 80 per cent of Swedes see a very or fairly strong connection between heat records, wildfires and climate change, according to an opinion poll by Indikator reported by SVT. Views differ mainly according to respondents’ gender and political sympathies.

In total, 48 per cent said they believed the connection was very strong, while 28 per cent described it as fairly strong. Fifteen per cent said the connection was fairly weak, 5 per cent saw no connection and 3 per cent did not know.

The difference between women and men was pronounced. Eighty-five per cent of women said they saw a very or fairly strong connection, compared with 68 per cent of men. Among those who saw a weak or no connection, 29 per cent were men and 12 per cent were women.

“Climate policy has become very politically polarised,” said Daniel Lindvall, an associate professor of sociology at Uppsala University who has researched attitudes towards climate change. He said there had previously been broader political agreement on climate policy, but that the Tidö parties had since given the issue lower priority.

Heatwaves have swept across Europe this summer, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes because of large wildfires in France and Spain. Researchers say global warming is making heatwaves hotter and more common, while drying out the ground, which affects the scale of fires. However, most fires in Europe are started by human activity.

Lindvall said the difference between men and women could partly be explained by differences in lifestyle. He described it as an unconscious defence of one’s identity and lifestyle, in which extreme weather is not linked to the climate issue.

The survey was conducted through Indikator Opinion’s randomly recruited Swedish panel between July 23 and 29, 2026. It collected 1,863 responses, with a response rate of 40 per cent. The results were weighted according to gender, age and the party respondents voted for in 2022.