In sunny, warm Visby, Daniel Helldén stands on the Almedal stage in front of an audience of around 1,500 people. He talks about the heat wave that is currently breaking records in some parts of Europe.
This week's heat wave is heading towards Sweden now. This weekend we are expected to have temperatures up to 35 degrees. The feeling is claustrophobic, he says.
MPs are coming to Almedalen Week with demands for a crisis plan to deal with heat waves. This could involve taking inventory of retirement homes, preschools and urban environments to ensure, for example, that there is enough shade.
But fundamentally it is about climate policy.
The Swedish government's task is to reduce emissions and protect the population from the climate crisis, says Helldén.
“Snuffed-out railway plan”
Earlier on Thursday, Daniel Helldén and his fellow spokesperson Amanda Lind presented a contingency plan for the railways, to ensure that trains arrive on time and to prepare for emergencies.
"It will take a lot of work to expand and upgrade our neglected railways. But we will get there," says Helldén.
The Green Party wants to invest billions in the railways, address neglected maintenance, build new main lines, but also initiate more cooperation with neighboring countries, especially with Norway. This is particularly important now that Sweden is a NATO member, the spokespersons emphasize.
The government's national plan involves streamlining investments in the railways, says Daniel Helldén.
Holy cow
He also attacks the Tidö parties for having "turned petrol populism into a religion".
The price at the pump has become a sacred cow that must be protected at all costs.
Helldén thinks that Sweden should have learned from the price shock that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Electrification should have been accelerated and fossil fuel dependence reduced, but the Tidö parties did exactly the opposite, he says.
"My friends, the patient is sick. The diagnosis is beyond doubt - the Tidö government is fossil fuel dependent. They simply must be replaced."
The Green Party wants to remove bottlenecks and increase railway capacity with new main lines, more double tracks, junction tracks and triangle tracks. Railway investments are 216 billion kronor greater than the government's, according to the party.
The party is spending 282 billion on operation and maintenance of the railways.
15 billion is being spent on climate adaptation of the railways to make them resistant to floods, landslides and extreme weather.
The Green Party will strengthen Nordic railway cooperation - especially with Norway. The party wants to prioritize what it considers to be important cross-border routes such as Oslo–Stockholm, Malmbanan, Inlandsbanan and Mittbanan.
Source: The Green Party
