Gustav Fridolin, who is the current coalition government’s Minister for Education, said that “many seem to have given up” believing that politics can effect change.
“This might be the most important election our party has faced and it’s not looking so good,” Fridolin said, referring to general elections scheduled for no later than September 9th 2018.
Recent polls show the Greens as having just 3.6 percent of public support, reports news agency TT.
The Greens received 6.9 percent of the vote and 25 seats in the 2014 general election, making the party the fourth largest in Sweden's Riksdag parliament.
Fridolin told party members that they had 469 days in which to change the course of political debate and convince voters that continuing with “business as usual” on environmental issues must not be accepted.
READ ALSO: Sweden's Greens tumble towards open trapdoor
The party leader referred specifically to climate and the environment in his speech.
In the speech, which had many elements of a lecture on green ideology, Fridolin spoke of an agenda which builds upon the concept of “being greater than what can be achieved with money” and working environments that emphasise the importance of people.
“Perhaps the most important working requirement in our day and age is being able to switch off [from work],” Fridolin said.
“There are no grandiose gestures that will change the world with conscious small steps to build something new. We must show that politics makes a difference,” he said.
Fridolin named three key areas for party campaigners to focus on in the lead-up to the election: Belief that green politics will make Sweden a better place; showing why environmental questions should determine where voters place their crosses; and pushing political borders.
“Visions must be taken out of the box,” he said.
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