Extreme heat could push climate higher on Sweden’s election agenda

Summer’s extreme heat, wildfires and temperature records across Europe could give climate policy a larger role in Sweden’s coming election campaign, SVT reports. The issue may benefit parties on the left, particularly the Green Party, but it could lose prominence as other issues compete for voters’ attention.

“Climate policy has become more polarised,” said Daniel Lindvall, a docent in sociology at Uppsala University who researches attitudes towards climate issues.

Research agrees that climate change is driving more extreme weather. However, Swedes’ views on whether Europe’s extreme heat is caused by climate change or something else vary according to several factors, including political affiliation.

“There is much greater engagement with and concern about the climate and the consequences of climate change among people on the left, while scepticism increases the further to the right you go,” said Per Oleskog Tryggvason, head of opinion polling at Indikator.

Indikator recently conducted an opinion poll for SVT about the recent heatwaves. Oleskog Tryggvason said the summer’s fires and heat records in Europe could put climate policy on the political agenda as Sweden approaches its election.

“The question is whether it will remain there when other issues begin to compete,” he said.

Lindvall said climate policy had become more closely linked to people’s identities as it became more polarised. A fragmented media environment, in which different groups consume different types of media, also contributes to differing views of climate change, he said.

Oleskog Tryggvason said parties on the left, especially the Green Party, could benefit from the prominence of climate issues because the party has high levels of trust on the subject and consistently seeks to place it on the political agenda. Some right-wing parties consider several other issues more important and do not want climate policy to receive as much attention.

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