On 11 September, Swedish citizens will go to the polls to vote in the national election. Recently, an urgent call for action by 1,944 researchers and employees from 45 Swedish universities and research institutes was published in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet with a clear message: what does it take for Swedish politicians to take the science of climate crisis seriously?
“Our politicians must take the crisis seriously and lead the transition to a future society within the limits of the planet. The research shows that such a future is possible,” write the researchers in the debate article. 21 researchers from the Department of Environmental Science signed the petition.
Professor Anna Sobek. Photo: Stella Papadopoulou
The situation is urgent – emissions continue to increase when they need to decrease drastically. As researchers and citizens, the group expressed anger and despair by recent developments and outlined how the majority of the Swedish political parties have abandoned climate policies or have, instead, proposed or implemented policies that run counter to the Paris Agreement and Sweden’s climate and environmental goals. The group demanded that politicians put the climate crisis at the top of their agenda.
According to Anna Sobek, Professor at the Department of Environmental Science who signed the petition, the science is clear in that in order to counteract climate change, societies must change. “As researchers in environmental science, our task is to generate knowledge about how earth systems, including the climate system, work and how they are affected by humans. The research shows without a doubt what must be done to mitigate or limit climate change, which we already see clear signs of both here in Sweden and globally. Fossil fuels must be phased out. Society needs to change. These are drastic changes that require political unity and strong leadership. I don’t see that in our elected representatives today and it worries me very much. Therefore, I think it was important to sign the petition, as a way to make my voice heard – together with all the other researchers in Sweden who share my concern,” says Sobek.
