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Denmark’s environmentalist Alternative party suffers despite climate-focused election

The Alternative party, for which the environment and climate change is its primary issue, is struggling in the polls with a general election imminent, despite a huge interest in the issue amongst the public.

Published: 15 May 2019 14:58 CEST
Denmark’s environmentalist Alternative party suffers despite climate-focused election
Alternative election placards in Copenhagen. Photo: Martin Sylvest / Ritzau Scanpix

A number of issues have provided obstacles for the green party, which was launched in 2013, as it attempts to follow up on its breakout success at the 2015 election.

“Although Alternative, politically speaking, has an issue which is more relevant than ever before, voters are clearly unsure as to whether they are the right party to do something about it,” said commentator Erik Holstein of the Altinget political media.

“I think that is due to cases in which prominent party members have done things that are in conflict with the green agenda,” Holstein said.

“When you present (climate change) as though the world is about to end while also taking a scuba diving holiday in Zanzibar, I think you’ll lose voters,” the analyst continued, in reference to reports of prominent party members taking long-distance flights.

The party has also been the subject of other controversies regarding its leadership.

After entering parliament for the first time in 2015 with 4.8 percent of the popular vote, Alternative polled at just 2.9 points in mid-April, falling perilously close to the 2 percent threshold for parliamentary representation.

Latest polls show the party continuing to lose support, with 2.5 points.

Meanwhile, a Voxmeter poll showed climate to be one of three subjects considered by voters to be the most important in the upcoming election.

“We have absolutely asked ourselves why this could be. One obvious explanation is that we are seeing massive competition from other parties on the subject of climate, with one climate proposal after another,” Maier said.

“That can only be a positive thing,” the Alternative MP added.

“The other thing is that we’ve had a number of negative reports. There has been unrest amongst our support and criticism of the leadership. That makes people unsure whether we have our house in order,” she said.

Holstein said that he doubted the party could turn the tide and achieve a strong election result.

“I can’t see what they could pull out of the hat to change this. They have presented an ambitious climate plan, and people know what they are about,” he said.

A continued push on the environment could still set the green party apart from its competitors, according to Maier.

“We are still the most ambitious party regarding the environment. We must make sure Danes know that we are the most ambitious party in this area,” she said.

That could be done by highlighting difference between Alternative’s green policies compared to others, she said.

“In a way, we’re a victim of our own success because we have changed the agenda,” Maier said.

READ ALSO: The 2019 Danish general election: What you should know about the parties on the left

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CLIMATE

Central and southern Italy brace for storms and heavy snow

Storms and snowfall are forecast across much of central and southern Italy over the next few days, according to weather reports.

Published: 29 November 2021 15:13 CET
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy.
Snow is forecast in the hills of much of central and southern Italy. Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Italy’s Civil Protection Department on Monday issued ‘orange’ alerts for bad weather along Campania’s Tyrrhenian coastline and the western part of Calabria, while Sicily, Basilicata, Lazio, Molise, Umbria, Abruzzo, central-western Sardinia, and the remaining areas of Campania and Calabria are under a lower-level ‘yellow’ weather warning.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is warning Italy’s central-southern regions to prepare for a blast of polar air from the Arctic Circle that will bring heavy snowfall, rain and storms, reports national weather forecaster Il Meteo.

The village of Grotte di Castro in the province of Viterbo, two hours’ drive north of Rome, mountainous parts of Sardinia, and much of the province of Campobasso in the central-eastern region of Molise were already blanketed in snow on Monday morning.

The department is responsible for predicting, preventing and managing emergency events across the country, and uses a green, yellow, orange and red graded colour coding system for weather safety reports.

An orange alert signifies a heavy rainfall, landslide and flood risk, while a yellow alert warns of localised heavy and potentially dangerous rainfall.

The current meteorological conditions mean that snow is expected to reach unusually low altitudes of around 450-500 metres, with flakes already falling thickly on parts of the southern-central Apennines mountain range at 500-700 metres altitude.

The hills of Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Basilicata are likely to see heavy snow around the 500m mark, while areas at an altitude of 1000m or higher will see between 50-60 cm of fresh snow.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall.

Affected parts of the country could see 50-60cm of snowfall. Photo: Vincenzo PINTO /AFP

In areas where the snow is unlikely to reach, heavy rains and thunderstorms are anticipated, with rain forecast throughout Sardinia, Campania, Calabria and Lazio, reports Il Meteo.

Strong winds are forecast over the whole country, with the island regions of Sicily and Sardinia facing windspeeds of over 100km/hour and the risk of storm surges, according to the national newspaper La Repubblica.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: The Italian cities worst affected by flooding and heatwaves

The north of the country, meanwhile, will see sun but low temperatures of below 0°C at night in many areas, including across much of the Po Valley.

While conditions are expected to stabilise on Tuesday, cold currents from Northern Europe are forecast to trigger another wave of bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with Sardinia and Italy’s western coastline again at risk of storms and heavy rainfall that will move up towards Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto in the north.

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