The climate has cooled

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They’re young, they’re loud, and they have a message: “Methane stinks!” About a hundred people came to the demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Mittelland gas network in Arlesheim BL, which had been called for by the climate strike movement. A banner hangs from the lattice blocking access to the site: “We will prevent the liquefied gas terminal.”

Almost 30 kilometers away as the crow flies, in the city theater Olten SO, Balthasar Glättli (51) appears on stage at the same time. Wearing a white shirt, he swore to his delegates for the “2023 climate elections”. The Green President sounds almost a little defiant. He knows that things other than the environment are booming right now: banks, housing, weapons.

That was different four years ago. Thousands then took to the streets. Their goal: to save the planet. And the Greens triumphed at the ballot box. They increased their voter share by 6.1 points to 13.2 percent and won 17 additional seats in the National Council.

Big losers

This spring it looks less favorable. The Greens were among the big losers in the cantonal votes in Zurich and Basel-Landschaft. President Glättli’s forecasts for the autumn federal elections will also not please President Glättli: the Greens have lost about 2.5 percentage points in all polls.

Particularly bitter: climate fears are still at the top of the worry barometers, so solutions will certainly be needed. Have voters lost confidence in the Greens?

Climate strike activist Cyrill Hermann (19) draws his sober conclusion: “We no longer have a high opinion of the Greens.” Four years ago, the party benefited from the students who protested week after week for the climate. “Yes,” says Hermann, “nothing came back, we’re not one step further today.” Instead of playing stirrup for politics, focus on your own actions in the future. With strikes, the battle against planned gas plants or terminals, such as last Saturday in Basel, will take place. “The Greens are just another party that just wants to get re-elected.”

“We have no faith in politics.”

Reto Wigger (39) of the Extinction Rebellion movement, which uses civil disobedience to draw attention to the climate crisis, has little regard for parliament and government: “We have zero confidence in politics.” The activist locates the problem with parties and the media. They did not understand the seriousness of the situation. During the Covid pandemic, the Federal Council for the People stepped up and warned of dangers to the health system. Then everyone in the country could explain the R-value. “Why isn’t that the case at the tipping point?” Wigger wonders.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the tipping point is a critical boundary at which a system reorganizes itself — abruptly and irreversibly. In practice, this means that if deforestation continues in the Amazon region, the rainforest will then turn into a huge savanna. The consequences for the global climate and biodiversity would be catastrophic. “Our livelihood is being destroyed,” says Reto Wigger. “Politicians don’t talk enough about this inconvenient truth.”

The environmental organizations Greenpeace, Pro Natura, VCS and WWF also keep an eye on politics. In its mid-legislative environmental assessment published at the end of 2021, it said that “environmental concerns in the National Council are only slightly more successful than before, despite the fact that the Greens and GLP have won seats”. Of the 49 votes marked as particularly important, 21 were lost.

Difficult position in the Council of States

In the Council of States, the green concerns had an even more difficult time. There, nine decisions were taken for environmental protection and 14 against. The center voted significantly more against the environment than its predecessors, the CVP and BDP. And because the voting behavior of other parties has shifted to the disadvantage of the climate, the Greens’ seat gains are dwindling. If they lose as much as the polls show this fall, Bern’s climate issues will have a harder time than ever.

None of the environmental groups like to comment publicly on the status of the Greens. People are nervous and don’t want to jeopardize the climate law referendum campaign. Deadline is June 18. On this date it will be decided whether the 2023 climate elections called by the Greens remain just a claim. One of the activists of the yes campaign tells the Sunday newspaper: “If we don’t get through this, climate policy in this country is dead.”

The Greens long for the Sunday vote in the summer. After all, there is at least half a certainty afterwards. President Glättli: “A clear yes would boost the Greens.”

Unfavorable choice of subjects

At the moment, however, discussions about immigration, guns and Credit Suisse dominate the political debate. Topics that the Greens certainly have something to say about. They demand a ban on second homes in housing-deprived cities, they oppose arms shipments and a banking system that rewards risk and punishes taxpayers for pacifist reasons. Yet the Greens are viewed across the country as a single-issue party.

But the Greens are not defeated. “Of course we have to accelerate,” says group chairman Aline Trede (39). She understands the activists’ criticism: “It’s too slow for me too, that’s why I entered politics.” The loud noises in the street are just as important as the small steps in parliament. In 2015, the Bernese received 35,000 votes, four years later 70,000. “We need to repeat this mobilization,” says Trede.

President Glättli sticks to his mantra: “Our planet is on fire, we need to create an ecological turnaround now. That’s why we need a climate choice!”

What the Greens still need, besides a lot of votes, is a bit of voodoo: that a wish repeated often enough will come true itself.

Source:Blick