Green parties are anxiously awaiting the official results of an election they fear could grind down Europe’s environmental ambitions, after exit polls show them slumping in their stronghold Germany.
The party has dropped 8.5 percentage points since the last election, from 20.5% in 2019 to 12% today, initial polls suggest. Its losses appear to be particularly pronounced among under-30s, who have shifted toward the far-right AfD and newer parties, the German public broadcaster reported.
Since wars and inflation have pushed climate change down the political agenda, European Green politicians have put democracy at the centre of their campaign strategy. They have positioned themselves as an opposition force to far-right parties seeking to rip up rules that cut pollution and protect wildlife.
That message, fleshed out on the campaign trail and echoed by young climate activists who are not formally backing any party, is unlikely to have convinced voters already rooting for the radical right. But it may have drawn in centrists alarmed by the gains those parties are projected to make tonight.
In Germany, where the Greens are in the national government, big losses had already been forecast. Polls from earlier this year suggest they will also shed seats in France and Italy. Green politicians say they beat the polls in 2019 and intend to do so again tonight.
But the political landscape has shifted dramatically since the last elections, when school strikers like Greta Thunberg took to the streets and pushed climate change into the forefront of people’s minds. The protests that helped secure cross-party support for the Green Deal five years ago have shrunk in size and number, while furious farmers’ protests railing against policies to protect nature have cropped up. In the months ahead of the elections, European leaders ditched several climate measures in response.
Political scientists see little evidence of a societal backlash to the Green Deal – though they have seen local opposition to specific climate policies push voters away from the Greens. A more likely explanation for the projected losses, they say, is that other issues have grown more important. Economic troubles may make people less likely to consider the environment when casting a vote – regardless of whether they themselves struggle to pay for green measures.
Source link : https://amp.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jun/09/eu-europe-elections-2024-results-news-updates-live-latest
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Publish date : 2024-06-09 12:57:00
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