'Fridays for the Future' Gets Green Parties Voted Into EP

The Fridays For the Future (FFF) movement has contributed to green party victories in the European Parliament (EP) elections, says Chief Executive Officer of Climate-KIC Kirsten Dunlop tells EFE while at the "The Unavoidable Transformation," a seminar being held in Madrid May 31 and organized by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Spanish Sustainable Development Network (SSDN).

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"We have a lot of information about climate change but few stories that mobilize us," Dunlop said, adding that it is necessary to "reorient" climate-related discourses to depict how sound environmental protection policies can bring about hope, benefits and opportunities for all.

Dunlop says the FFF movement has influenced European voters "to save their children's future, ... which demands more regulation."

The FFF discourse does not address global warming as something complicated to be taken care of over time, but as an immediate, pressing issue that demands comprehensive and effective regulations.

From May 23 to 26, millions of Europeans supported political groups in favor of climate change and pro-environmental policies. In France, the Green-Europe Ecology (EELV) political party won three million votes, a record which made it the third more important electoral force in the country.

In Germany, the Green Party outperformed the Social Democratic Party and obtained 20.5 percent of the votes, which translated into a 10 percent gain of environmental supporters over the 2014 EP elections.

The Green Party in the United Kingdom obtained 12 percent of the votes, its best performance since 1989.

Overall, green parties gained 40 percent more seats in the EP, making them the fourth largest block with 69 legislators.

The FFF movement was inspired by activist Greta Thunberg, a young Swede who began demanding immediate actions to combat climate change outside the Swedish parliament in 2018.

The following Friday, hundreds of Spaniards began to demonstrate, joining the global strike for the climate.

"We still need real, immediate and effective measures to stop the disaster before it is too late. We will not rest until we see real action," the FFF leader said, adding, "we are in a climate emergency situation."

Spaniards are set to take part in a sit-in outside Congress in Madrid at 5:30 pm Friday to promote a "circular economy" that calls for a more efficient use of resources and more responsible waste management systems.

"Half of the 60,000 million tons of raw materials that we extract each year will not be ever regenerated," a Spanish activists said.

The Friday for the Future demostrations are also being carried out in several cities across Germany.