The Greta Thunberg effect? Climate takes centre stage in European elections

In a vast exhibition hall in Berlin’s riverside docks, they are setting up the stage for a Green Party European election rally. Engineers are testing the spotlights, while backstage make-up artists set to work on the candidates.

It’s a far cry from the village halls and community centres where Europe’s Greens usually meet — in fact, you could almost mistake it for a US presidential rally, if it weren’t for the pile of flyers by the door that read “Grexit? Brexit? F*** it!”

“We didn’t have make-up artists when the Greens started,” jokes Sven Giegold, the party’s lead candidate for the European parliament.

The message is clear: the Greens have arrived. In the wake of Greta Thunberg’s school strikes…